Review of Gosford Park (2001) by Jack M — 10 Feb 2008

It never ceases to amaze me how many films get away with murder. And here's yet another example in [i]Gosford Park[/i]. How this won awards I will never know.

It lasts roughly 2 hours 5 minutes - nothing actually happens until about 1 hour 15 minutes in! And even then the bare minimum of action takes place. The film has concentrated so much on the class distinction, characters and relationships, that he's completely forgotten to consider the plot, and it's really boring of him. I was shouting at the screen after 20 minutes - 'Get on with it!' And as a result of doing that for close to an hour, I can hardly speak. Maybe that's a good thing.

The film is set in the 1930s, with a group of a dozen or so wealthy men, accompanied of course by their wives, invited down by the owner, Sir William McCordle, for a spot of pheasant hunting. And that's basically it to be frank with you. If you manage to last long enough, you'll eventually get to a murder case, and to be honest, Homer Simpson and Maggie would do a better job investigating.

Yes the twist in the tale is there, yes Clive Owen is there, yes the cast is there (and Jesus, the cast really is there - seems like the entire cast of Doctor Who has turned up to be in it), but the plot and storytelling is not. I'd far rather watch an episode of Poirot, where they get to the point quickly, tell the story well, and have a tiny Belgian with a fabulous moustache. I'd get far more pleasure.

A week ago I saw [i]Les Invasions Barbares [/i](The Barbarian Invasions), and the difference between that and this, both very much in the same genre, is simply unbelievable. How I can go from such wonderful cinema to this tripe deeply saddens me. Please see the aforementioned masterpiece or [i]Little Fish[/i] long before you consider boring yourself with this dull waste of time, space and money.