Today's viewing (through a headache and humid weather) was Robert Altman's "Gosford Park" (2001). I'm not going to write an in-depth review, but some brief comments on it.
Billed as a dark comedy of manners, Altman's film attempts to analyze British class differences and the parallel lives of the upper class and their servants. The movie is well-made, with an exceptional cast - Michael Gambon, Alan Bates, Helen Mirren, Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins, Tom Hollander, Jeremy Northam, Kristin Scott Thomas, Geraldine Somerville, Clive Owen, Ryan Phillipe, Bob Balaban, Stephen Fry, Richard E. Grant, to name just a few - but I didn't really care for it that much. Either the humor was much too dry and understated for my tastes (not bloody likely, as I've spent years cultivating a taste for British comedy), it was unsuccessful in what it set out to do, or it wasn't a comedy at all, really. A bigger problem, though is that the characters are interchangable and very hard to keep track of, causing a large amount of confusion and preventing one from generating much interest in what's going on. The only really funny parts were Stephen Fry's cameo as the police Inspector - now there's a funny man. Also, I now know that Jeremy Northam is a great singer, and that Bob Balaban is horribly annoying in pretty much everything.
If it were an attempt to be a crime film/social satire, I give it a 7. If it's supposed to be a straight comedy, it gets a meager 6. Either way, that's the third film I found rather disappointing this week. Hopefully I'll be receiving The Train from Netflix tomorrow - now THERE'S a classic movie (I hope).
As I continue to flex my writing muscles, I will attempt to provide for you a new featured article tomorrow, on my favorite film of all time. Most of you who know me will probably be able to guess what that is already - if not, well, wait and see.
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