ByeBye Bush:
-64 days
|
|
|
ByeBye Bush:
-64 days
| |||||||
|
My rating: 4 - Fabulous
60 second review: I really really liked this latest (and possibly final) Altman movie. It featured a wonderful cast (with the possible exception of R. Phillipe who appeared to be in way out of his league here) performing roles that were quite well-written. The numerous subtle touches and directorial flourishes made this movie an experience rather than your typical tapioca spoon feeding from your friendly major distributor. Gosford Park, it should be noted, is an active (as opposed to passive) movie; if you merely sit back to let the movie wash over you, you are going to miss a gazillion details. Those details are important here, as the vast majority of the story is truly told through event happening off to the side of the screen, or mentioned in passing, or sotto voce, or reflected off of a spoon... except for the very ending which explains all in a way that was reminiscent of Scooby Doo... without Mr. Parker, the theme park owner in the swamp monster suit.
Positives: the active nature of the film, the near-ADHD quality of the storytelling, the characters were neither one-dimensional nor had their traits and motivations given to you with a blazing neon sign saying "PSYCHOPATHIC HITCHHIKER" attached to their chests, and the self-referential digs at (and historical homages to) Hollywood.
Negatives: the storyline and characterizations may have been a bit too subtle (case in point: what the hell was that whole kitchen-maid-in-love-with-Mr.-Jennings thing?), the movie seemed ill-focused at times particularly at the end (case in point: what the hell was that whole kitchen-maid-in-love-with-Mr.-Jennings thing?), and even though it was only 127 minutes long, Gosford Park felt like it was at least an hour longer.
Best Line: any of Maggie Smith's lines. They were amazingly tight... and biting. It would take me years to think of cutting remarks as precisely tuned to maim the recipient as hers were. Bravo! "Green is such a difficult color."
Links: