All-star cast lifts Altman thriller

Robert Altman's attempt at a 1930s murder mystery set on an English country pile scooped the best screenplay Oscar at this year's ceremony.

Drawing in a stellar cast that reads like a Who's Who of the British acting establishment, it's not a surprise that it has many admirers. Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith, Charles Dance and Emily Watson represent successive generations of Brit stars - but it's young Kelly Macdonald who takes the central role as the ladies' maid who draws each strand of Altman's movie together.

The meek Scottish lass pieces together the mysteries of relationships between those above and below stairs with a sublime understatement that is a trademark touch of Altman's direction.

Hard-edged Helen Mirren is outstanding as top servant Mrs Wilson, and there are interesting turns from smooth-as-silk Jeremy Northam, mysterious chancer Clive Owen and bumbling detective Stephen Fry. Although it's slow to pick up the pace, by the time the film ends you are so involved with the myriad of characters that you wish the film could simply continue.