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Gosford Park Review

Other Critics provided by Metacritic.com

Critics scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 5.0
    90

    out of 100

    Metascore®
    Universal acclaim
    based on a weighted average of all
    critic review scores.

  • 100

    out of 100

    USA Today Mike Clark

    The movie is so fun that it wouldn't need the mystery to be top-notch entertainment.

  • 100

    out of 100

    Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

    At a time when too many movies focus every scene on a $20 million star, an Altman film is like a party with no boring guests.

    Read Full Review

  • 100

    out of 100

    The New York Times Stephen Holden

    A virtuoso ensemble piece to rival the director's "Nashville" and "Short Cuts" in its masterly interweaving of multiple characters and subplots.

    Read Full Review

  • 100

    out of 100

    Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

    It's a scintillating comedy-drama and one of Altman's most richly moving and entertaining pictures.

    Read Full Review

  • 90

    out of 100

    Variety Todd McCarthy

    Taking advantage of a splendid cast, a sharply focused script and the fresh English setting, "Gosford Park" emerges as one of the most satisfying of Robert Altman's numerous ensemble pictures.

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  • 90

    out of 100

    Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

    It's the style of the thing, not the plot, that is the attraction here, the great way the cast has with the snarky dialogue.

    Read Full Review

  • 90

    out of 100

    Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

    A wickedly astute and beautiful comedy of manners-cum-murder mystery, it's too dense, and occasionally confusing, to grasp fully the first time around. How lucky, then, that it's also too much fun to see just once.

  • 91

    out of 100

    Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

    The movie might almost be winking at the fact that any single one of these performers could easily be the featured star of his or her own upper-crust period piece.

    Read Full Review

  • See all Gosford Park reviews at Metacritic.com

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For Families provided by Common Sense Media

OK for kids 15+

Wonderful British whodunit with some sexual content.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Gosford Park has sexual references and situations (briefly graphic), including adultery, a hint of a homosexual relationship, and an attempted molestation. There is some strong language and a character is murdered by poisoning and stabbed afterward. Accurate to the period, characters smoke and drink heavily.

  • Families can talk about how each of the different characters fits into the overall story. Which characters do you sympathize with the most? Which do you dislike the most?
  • Who in the film actually cares about Sir William? Why?
  • Why was it so important to be the "perfect servant"? What will happen to each of the characters in 10 years?

The good stuff
  • message true1

    Messages: The intelligent script reveals just how intertwined the lives of the different classes really are, despite outward appearances. The movie also explores what lengths people will go to in order to protect the ones they love.

  • rolemodels true1

    Role models: No one is terribly upset when Sir William is murdered and it becomes clear why -- he used his power and class to hurt many. Before he dies visitors still suck up to him for money. The head housekeeper, Mrs. Wilson, tries hard to protect the ones she cares about.

What to watch for
  • violence false2

    Violence: A murder by poisoning and then the corpse is stabbed. You see the corpse fall over with a knife and no blood. A bullet grazes an ear in a hunting scene. One servant sexually assaults another, but is caught before it goes beyond rough kissing and groping.

  • sex false3

    Sex: Three affairs between servants and those they serve. Two scenes show a kitchen maid in the dark with some thrusting in the shadows barely visible. Some bawdy talk and sexual references, including mentions of illegitimate children and hints of a homosexual relationship. 

  • language false4

    Language: Language is infrequent but includes "f--king." Also: "s--t," "piss," "hell," "damn," "bloody," and "bugger all." (Note that cigarettes in Britain are called "fags.")

  • consumerism false0

    Consumerism: Not an issue

  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3

    Drinking, drugs and smoking: Smoking in many, many scenes in this 1932-set movie -- cigarettes and pipes. A drunken servant is carried to bed and there's plenty of drinking of wine and whiskey at the dinner parties.

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© Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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