The Castle
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Canada
Movie Reviews of The Castle
Movie Review: If you love The Dish and/or Local Hero, HIGHLY recommeded
Summary: 5 Stars
It is similiar to The Dish in that it is filled with likable, funny Australian characters. The Castle is a little farther down the wackiness/realism scale, I laughed out loud more often at The Castle. Its slightly more sit-com feel allowed for some 'harder' punchlines (not so much in terms of swearing, but more in the comedic sense) and quite often it works great.It is similiar to Local Hero in that both are about how local people (in Local Hero, Irish people) react to a rich, outside entity coming in and attempting to buy their homes. While the townspeople in Local Hero have a very different reaction, both movies deal with what makes somplace 'home' and the quality of life that has nothing to do with the dollar value of the place.
Either The Dish or Local Hero would make an excellent companion to The Castle for a home double feature night.
A WORD OF CAUTION: Do *NOT* watch the trailer on the DVD first!!! It gives away plot points (not that then ending is not predictable, but the trailer also gives away parts of the journey).
Movie Review: A Poke at Working Class Mentality and the Nuclear Family
Summary: 5 Stars
The Castle starts off with an introduction by one of the sons in the family who then goes on to narrate the familiy's struggle with a multinational Australian corporation in the fight to keep their home from being subsumed under the airport next door's burgeoning development.The family all come off as a bit thick, its meant to be a satirical look at working class mentality, but it is done without mean spiritedness, which is what gives the movie its charm. The family members obviously love one another despite chinks in the personal armour. The oldest brother is in jail, the father keeps adding rooms to the house without actually finishing them, and the mother specializes in frozen entrees for the majority of the family meals.
What makes the movie so funny is that at various moments you can see parts of your own family portrayed in the movies characters, and the good humor and sense of fun inherent in the directors intent for this film stays put throughout the movie.
Movie Review: The Supids Have a Ball!
Summary: 5 Stars
D'you remember the children's book "the Stupids have a Ball?" They adapted it into a movie starring Tom Arnold. It sucked. "The Castle," a low budget Australian comedy, captures the spirit of "the Stupids" far better than the actual adaptation.
I love comedy that is played straight. The entire family plays the comedy very honestly -- none of that sitcom winking at the camera type of acting where the actors are aware of the absurdity. These Australian actors play the comedy like they're not aware of their "stupidity" at all. And by the end they've won you over. They're not so stupid after all. I LOVE this show!
The best thing I can say about this movie (or any movie) is that it is RE-WATCHABLE. The comedy is so well executed these jokes never get old.
Movie Review: Why is it rated 'R'?
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this movie. My wife picked it up off of the "recommended" shelf. It looked like it was filmed in the early 80's, which added charm to the film. What I cannot understand is why it is rated 'R'. There is no sexual content of any kind, no illegal drug use, no violence, (unless you count tearing down a iron fence with a tow truck as violent), or even any blood! I can count on one hand the number of times foul language was used. And most of those times it was the same word!
I would go as far as to say that if it were not for the very few swear words this would make a great family movie.
We truly enjoyed this movie and would recommend it again and again.
The Castle. Rated PG (for mild use of strong language)
Movie Review: the BEST sleeper of 1999
Summary: 5 Stars
Ok, so the video isn't out yet, but I'm one of the few people who actually saw this movie. Poor Miramax, they didn't market it very well, and thats unfortunate for them and for the general public. A hokey, funny, beyond charming story of a man, a family, and their home, which is THEIR castle. He can't understand how he got his home so cheap, soooo its next to an airport runway, and high tension wires are in his back yard. Its all theirs. Until... the airport wants to expand. How will they fight a huge corporation? The BEST movie to come out of Australia in years! I belong to a film symposium class that viewed this movie. Its the only movie of the year that actually got a standing ovation.