A warm, affectionate and extremely funny film, The Castle captures the Australian fighting spirit in this modern day retelling of David vs. Goliath.
The Castle is the story about the loving Kerrigan family. Their main spark and anchor is devoted husband and adoring father Darryl (Michael Caton), a man of strong principles who shows pride in the most mundane of achievements and possessions.
He and his family live at 3 Highview Crescent, a house located right next to the Melbourne airport, is surrounded by aerials and contains lead in the soil. But to the people who live there, it is a home without equal.
When an air travel conglomerate named “Airlink” decides to expand its base of operations at the airport, they attempt to buyout all of the residents on Highview Crescent. Enraged that the government would allow Airlink to forcibly remove them from their home, Darryl decides to fight back .
Made on a low budget, The Castle does have a number of things going against it, particularly in regards to cinematography and camera work. But its hilarious screenplay ,written by the people behind cult Australian TV classics The D-Generation and Frontline, and the simplistic nature of the characters and the actors who portray them , particularly Michael Caton as Darryl Kerrigan, makes up for any technical flaws.
In certain comedies the dialogue can be infectious. If repeated enough and delivered by great actors, lines of dialogue can stick in a persons head like an irresistible melody. The Castle contains such dialogue. Its numerous and memorable one liners has entrenched itself in popular Australian culture, and can still crack someone up no matter what the occasion nor the multitude of times it has been said.
That in itself makes The Castle a timeless Australian classic and perhaps the best comedy the Australian film industry has ever produced. |