Maggie Smith: One of a stellar cast

Such is the wealth of thespian talent on display that it's no surprise teen heart-throb Ryan Phillippe sticks out like a sore thumb - even without the preposterous Scottish accent he adopts in his role as a Hollywood actor masquerading as a manservant in 30s England.

His is just one of the plethora of plot strands screenwriter Julian Fellowes weaves into an elaborate tapestry of intrigue, satire and brittle social commentary.

Comparisons with Upstairs, Downstairs are inevitable as the camera follows the masters and servants who assemble for a weekend shooting party through the salons, bedrooms, kitchens and grounds of the eponymous manor.

Through the eyes of Kelly Macdonald's meek Scottish maid, we are privy to extramarital liaisons, shady business transactions, country sports and at least one murder.

Painstaking

There's even a dose of celebrity in 30s musical icon Ivor Novello - Jeremy Northam - not to mention the obligatory police inspector, ripely played by Stephen Fry.

As in Altman's 1993 movie Short Cuts, there are too many dovetailing narratives for all of them to be resolved satisfactorily. Indeed, the search for the murderer is probably the film's least rewarding element.

And having painstakingly built a fascinating study of England's entrenched social strata in the interbellum years, it is a pity the picture ends on such a hurried, abrupt note.

In the end, then, it is the cast that counts, and it would be invidious to single out any for special praise.

Suffice to say that Bates' imperious butler, Atkins' embittered cook and Scott Thomas' bored trophy wife are by no means the only delights to savour.

For all its period trappings and mystery clich�s, Gosford Park is all about class and its intractable sway over English manners and morals.

And class is exactly what oozes from every frame of this sumptuous, old-fashioned epic.