The Castle (1999)

the audience applauded

Just what I expected

Best movie of this year hands down!

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

This film is designated by IMDb.com as a comedy, and it is very funny. It's also often described as a film about the importance of having a benevolent family, and it is that also. But what makes it so unusual and so emotionally powerful is its theme (from which the title is derived): A man's home is his castle. It's about the injustice of eminent domain, more prevalent in the USA than in Australia. The reasons that the Kerrigan family gives for fighting "compulsory acquisition" of their home mirrors what has happened for many decades in the US, most notably in the notorious 2005 Kelo case, which the Supreme Court decided 5-4 against the homeowners. Home (and business) owners who fight eminent domain are not interested in compensation; they love their homes and what those homes mean, and they don't want to move. "The Castle" dramatizes those values and dramatizes the fight in any nation of individuals against the premise that one's property belongs to the state and can be taken from them to serve the "public good." "The Castle" is a hilarious, cleverly written and well-acted film that does what so few films even try to do: it inspires.

The Castle is an example of poor Australian filmography. Not only does it conform to stereotypes as a last ditch attempt to humor, it does so blatantly obviously that it is far short of many of the great pieces of cinema that emerge from here. Satire is primarily used to evoke laughs from the viewer, but the result is a one and a half hour cringe-fest, with poor writing, poor direction and poor scripting. The actors are a class below average, and we are not positioned to sympathise with the Kerrigen's in anyway throughout the plight although that was the authors invitation. Essentially, the Castle is about bogans being bogans, and we are meant to laugh at this? The difference between the Simpsons and this is that the Simpsons is cleverly written, with charm and heart. The Castle is crude in nature, so much so that any form of empathy is lost in the first few minutes. Overall, I strongly recommend you miss this one out and go watch an actual film.

The Castle is from Australia and refers to the saying a man's home is his castle; in this case, of the Kerrigan family. A mom, a dad, two sons, and a daughter. It opens with one of the sons as narrator. He voices over the scene of his father standing beside their house by an airport runway. He explains how his pop hot a great deal on the property because of location, location, location. A huge power line with big steel towers also runs through their land.The look is similar to an old Saturday Night Live sketch with Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi extended to an hour and a half, and therein lies the problem. The naive cuteness of these oddballs wears thin rather quickly. The airport is about to expand and is buying the houses under what would be eminent domain here in the United States. They refuse to sell and go to court with an inept lawyer to fight the order. After losing, a counsel who is a constitutional expert represents him in Australia's Supreme Court. As a comedy, it just isn't very funny, and as a message concerning the mistreatment of Aborigines, it is extremely shallow. The Castle is a mediocre film with an average cast and so so script.

I did not expect a lot from a film with no stars, no action chases , no big budget. What I got was 85 minutes of joy and laughter about a normal family with no airs, graces or style. Just love for each other and laugh after laugh after laugh. Mr Kerrigan is the forthright Aussie that we all have met over the years travelling. Says what he means and no messing.Not overly sentimental but right up there in the laughter count with Young Frankenstein and DodgeBall. All people wishing to write / direct should look at the relationships between all the characters - they all work. Every character is not only likable but real. We all know some people like them. A joy.