# Castle, The (1997/I)

### reviewed by
Akiva Gottlieb

    The Castle ***

rated R released by Miramax Films starring Michael Caton, Anne Tenney, Stephen Curry, Anthony Simcoe, Sophie Lee, Wayne Hope, Tiriel Mora, Eric Bana, Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, Costas Kilias written and conceived by Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner, Jane Kennedy, Rob Stich directed by Rob Stich

Over the past few years, there have been only a few notable Australian imports (Shine, Kiss or Kill), but after watching Rob Stich's The Castle, which was the highest-grossing Australian film of last year, their future is looking brighter. At the screening of The Castle which I attended, two of the film's stars (both very nice) were in attendance, surely trying to help spread word-of-mouth and make the film a Full Monty-sized hit. And while The Castle is a funny, heartwarming movie, it is not as poignant as The Full Monty, the film to which The Castle has been often compared.

At the beginning of The Castle, Dale Kerrigan (Stephen Curry), a scraggly teenager, introduces us to the members of his oddball family. Darryl (Michael Caton), the father, is the backbone of the family. He is a constantly cheerful man; always trying to keep the family happy. If Darryl is the backbone, then Sal (Anne Tenney), the mother, is the other bones. She does the cooking and errands around the house.

Steve (Anthony Simcoe), Dale's older brother, is what Darryl calls an "ideas man". He also spends most of his time looking through the classifieds for useless things to buy and sell. Then there is Tracy (Sophie Lee), a hairdresser who has just gotten married. And lastly, there is Wayne (Wayne Hope), the son whom Darryl says "got stuck with the wrong crowd", and commited a robbery. He is locked up in prison, but Dale visits him weekly.

What keeps the family together is their home, which Darryl calls his "castle". It is situated right next to the airport runway, and sometimes, says Darryl, you think the planes are going to land right on top of you. The conflict of the film comes when a man informs them that the goverment is planning an airport expansion, and their house will be taken over by a compulsory acquisition. Darryl then hires small-time lawyer Dennis Denuto (Tiriel Mora), to try anything he can to fight the government.

The Castle used four writers, was shot on a shoestring budget over an 11-day period, and for the most part, works very well. The film is a light, British-style comedy, and is very funny at times. It is essentially a feel-good movie, and I can't think of a single character that was unlikable (although I hear that all Aussies are nicer than any American). Many films need to take a lesson from movies like The Castle, that prove that nice guys finish first.

Michael Caton gives a fine comic performance, reminiscent of early John Cleese, and the film, while somewhat short, is very entertaining the whole way through. The Castle sometimes borderlines on being too cheerful, but too much of a good thing isn't all that bad.

a review by Akiva Gottlieb, The Teenage Movie Critic akiva@excite.com http://www.angelfire.com/mo/film watch me on TBS' "Dinner And A Movie" May 21, 8:05pm EST

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