Gosford Park (2001)

Set in the 1930s the story takes place in an old fashioned English country house where a family has invited many of their friends up for a weekend shooting party. The story centers around the McCordle family, particularly the man of the house, William McCordle. Getting on in years William has become benefactor to many of his relatives and friends. As the weekend goes on and secrets are revealed, it seems everyone, above stairs and below, wants a piece of William and his money, but how far will they go to get it? (imdb)
Cast and Information
Directed By: Robert Altman
Written By: Robert Altman, Bob Balaban, Julian Fellowes
Starring: Helen Mirren, Stephen Fry, Michael Gambon, Derek Jacobi, Charles Dance, Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith, Clive Owen, Emily Watson, Ryan Phillippe, Kelly Macdonald, Jeremy Northam
Genre: Mystery
Where to Stream

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Paxton | 65 45th |
Filmed during the one week where every single English actor in the country gathers at an old mansion. So dry even the murder was milquetoast.
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TonythePony | 85 84th |
Wonderfully complicated murder mystery, with a surfeit of interesting characters entwined in a tangled web of relationships. If you can keep straight each characters social status, motives and secrets while following the at times rapid-fire overlapping dialogue, it is extremely rewarding. Many fine performances, none more so than the ice cold Helen Mirren and the exquisitely acid tongued Maggie Smith.
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Prince Sandy | 87 91st |
The complex relationships beneath all the stuffiness and superficial decorum are laid out in a careful and authentic way. The atmosphere is perfectly captured too, kind of muundane on the surface, but all the while there are of hidden wars being waged between the banality.
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drawkward86 | 92 82nd |
I'm sad that the Criticker community seems to have no love for this impossibly rich, flawlessly written, beautifully shot gold mine of character and period detail. Like all Altman films, it demands to be viewed more than once; I've seen this over and over again and it seems fresh every time. The acting is generally spot-on, but the women, esp. KST, Dames Maggie and Helen, Watson, and the heartbreakingly perfect unknown Blakely are standouts. A wonderfully decadent treat, and one of my favorites.
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PeaceAnarchy | 64 15th |
I found this unbearably slow and the mystery is not all that exciting. Some good performances though.
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Cowman | 70 56th |
I'm not sure about this one, the only thing I know is that there were too many characters. At the end of the movie I was still thinking things like 'who the hell was that guy and what has he done again?'. But it was pretty entertaining and there were some good scenes, the crime/mystery part was also pretty good..
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neurophate | 44 14th |
Very long and boring with undeveloped characters. First half was pain in the ass. Expected some murder mystery and I've got 2 hours of mumbling.
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mwgerb | 50 44th |
The gravitas that the powerhouse cast brings to the table is what's worth seeing. Unfortunately, outside of that, the story is rather uninteresting, before AND after the murder mystery comes into play, and there's not nearly enough time for all the characters. Ultimately, the estranged mother and orphaned son storyline is compelling, but I could care less about the douchebag who everyone wanted to murder. You'd be better of rewatching Rules of the Game (or Clue if that's more your style).
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fudgieb | 40 10th |
I tried to be all artsy and really enjoy this movie, but its just so damn confusing and haughty. I'd probably have to watch it again to really get it, and I just don't want to do that.
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1 | svicciarelli | 75 21st |
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Not quite as thrilling or interesting as I had hoped.
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CCLZA | 85 89th |
Hilarious, impressively crafted period piece. Altman at his finest.
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1 | Harlequin21 | 50 16th |
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Oh! How farcical!
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djross | 55 53rd |
Not Altman's best in my view, with the class critique a little too obvious from start to finish. But of course, this is the Altman film that gets a best picture Oscar nomination, and wins best director at the Golden Globes. It's OK, but it would be lucky to scrape into his top twenty best films.
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Pickpocket | 3 28th |
Cluster fuck: the movie
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evrana | 81 75th |
It is full of despicable characters, so it is a bit hard to watch in the beginning; but the fast-paced, constant movement between the "upstairs" and "below the stairs" is really interesting. It is an Agatha Christie mystery plus all the grisly, annoying details of the life of English High Class. Up until the end, I was so-so about it, but I really enjoyed the last twist and the reasoning behind it.
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Mentaculus | 77 66th |
There's a kind of boutique artistry in its calculated chaos of dialogue, labyrinthine mise-en-scène, and Byzantine social mores. As a murder mystery it's a failure (Stephen Fry shows up as a D-grade Alastair Sim who also gets bored with it and leaves without solving anything). But in the midst of all this rigid polite chicanery comes an issue so dark and cancerous I found myself in shock. That the artifice of the film - and its real-life social proxy - obscures it in this boredom is masterful.
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1 | wcnitz | 83 75th |
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The introduction of the characters of this movie was both the most frustrating and most interesting aspect of it. You're forced to learn about the relationships between the characters on the fly - and even their identities - but at the end it pays off because it's absolutely integral to the plot. I hated this movie at times while I was watching it, but by the time the credits rolled I thought it was fantastic. Very well done.
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Icarus | 94 95th |
Delightful. Altman explores the upstairs/downstairs dynamic with verve and curiosity, combining a seemingly unending cast of characters, each of whom somehow turn out to be believable human beings. Altman's use of overlapping dialogue, a constantly moving camera, and a real sense of democracy in covering the characters makes the subject feel more like British society and not just a single group at a country house. Fine performances all around, especially the criminally underrated Stephen Fry.
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critickerkaw | 65 5th |
Hugely disappointing and rather frustrating movie. I SO wanted to like it, as the cast is great and the premise sounded interesting, but I ended up being mostly annoyed with it.
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Barthalen | 88 95th |
It might be tricky to keep track of the boatload of characters the movie kind of dumps on you, each with their own motivations, secrets and ways they relate to each other. But once you do, what follows is just delicious. A killer cast in a story filled with scheming, backstabbing, class issues, and a murder mystery to boot? Yes please. So many small, blink-and-you-miss-them moments that add up to something really great. A very satisfying watch.
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chemical404 | 72 87th |
This movie is like swiss clock - millions of little and big details that interact with each other form a single object that works with superb precision. Though you have to pay close attention not to miss anything (hardly possible on single viewing) watching how well this creation of Altman works a pleasure. Granted, story could have been more interesting, but this is one of those films where process of watching it is more important than what you receive from it.
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jeff_v | 90 98th |
It's an Upstairs/Downstairs class film in which the Upstairs scenes are mainly comedic and the downstairs mainly dramatic (a reversal from the norm). If I had to single out anyone for special praise it would be Emily Watson --even the way she walks is perfect. Altman's style is ideal, allowing his actors to develop their characters as his roving camera eavesdrops on them, as a servant might. It's a participatory style that engages the viewer's eyes, ears, and brain -a flawlessly directed film.
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Rufam | 60 29th |
Agatha Christie-esque mystery, an ensemble of people I worship and Robert Altman. And yet, "Gosford Park" manages to underwhelm. It's certainly pleasant, with many enjoyable scenes, but it never fully utilizes neither the magnificent cast, providing most of them with underdeveloped characters, nor the potential for a fascinating mystery. Altman's unfocused camera is more interested in depicting these people's social interactions rather than the central enigma and the result is far from gripping.
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Noblet | 66 42nd |
Well executed, but the character interaction is pretty uninteresting, and not enough to carry the movie on it's own.
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1 | damil | 55 34th |
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Seeing this film now, it's rather difficult not to think of it as writer Julian Fellowes' prototype of Downton Abbey. There are far too many characters here, and a 2-hour movie isn't enough to get to know them. This is a shame, as the film has a fantastic cast. It's over an hour in before we get to the murder mystery plot, and even then it doesn't really get any more interesting. I was often bored and I didn't really like it, overall.
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Hofschneider | 82 72nd |
What a dark movie this secretly is. I love it for it. Of course, the toxic, the early 2000s weren't able to grapple with it and marked it as a light costume drama. Thankfully I saw it 20 years after its initial release. Time is a blessing and nobody takes his time to build a world and put it on fire right in front of your eyes like Altman.
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ott | 70 57th |
with a glass of grog on her left she gazed upon the window, clear because it had been just cleaned again this morning. now easier to enjoy the view of the family estate as the bloody american had just stopped slamming the piano. maggie thought to herself: "fuck the poor"
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JPFerguson | 60 52nd |
A very well paced whodunit that embraces the atmosphere of the period without relying on it solely to engage the audience. The cast are all very well chosen for their respective roles and all deliver performances that serve the meandering plot.
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Average Percentile 57.57% from 3125 Ratings | ![]() |