Robert Altman has a wonderful way of working with large casts of characters and bringing something wonderful and unique to the screen when a lesser director would merely bring confusion. There are thirty-something characters in Gosford Park, and while it would take several viewings to keep them all distinct and know them all, it's perfectly coherent the first time through. Where many movies show and tell only the story at hand, Altman fills the edges of the frame and also the soundtrack with a refreshing richness.

Ostensibly, this is a whodunnit; but a murder really only provides an excuse for the characters to reside together for a while, as we get to know them. The camera is always moving, although very subtlely at times; the effect is that we are one of the dozens of the houseguests, catching snippets of conversation wherever we happen to be and missing out on equally intriguing events elsewhere. The result is intriguing and quaintly beautiful.