Gosford Park

MOVIE:  Gosford Park

NUTSHELL:  Robert Altman’s take on Haves and Have Nots in an English Country House post WWI

GOOD THINGS:  Maggie Smith, fingerwaving, Stephen Fry, those awesome little stand up lace maid hats, Emily Watson, great script by Julian Fellowes, Clive Owen, the lovely Kelly Macdonald (my second favorite petite Scottish lady) who was in my favorite movie ever about Bingo – “House!”, Helen Mirren, The Singing Detective, Derek Jacobi, Richard E. Grant with guns

BAD THINGS:  Caution: this film attracts a bad element – the extremely chatty Geriatric Set. For the first time in my entire life, I actually got up, walked over to someone and asked them to be quiet during a movie. Also, Kristin Scott Thomas, fur coats on men, fox hunting and (not a bad thing as much as an I-just-don’t-know-how-to-feel-about-this thing) Ryan Phillippe

FEATURES:  Suspicious show people, madcap heiresses, no-good husbands, Charles Dance, poison, knives, Jeremy Northam, illicit sex with a plumper, Bob Balaban, rain, Alan Bates, long distance calls, conscientious objectors, breakfast trays with non-homemade jam

UNCOMFORTABLE MOMENTS:  Chatty senior citizens and the overly amorous Ryan Phillippe (unrelated)

NOTABLE:  I tend to vascillate wildly with my opinions of different Altman things so there’s no need to take this review with a grain of salt like I’m one of those weird Nashville nuts.

BEST PART:  Maggie Smith cracking up

BEST LINE:  I can’t remember a line but I love the name Mary Macreachran even though I start to choke on my tongue when I say it.

CROWNS:  4 out of 5