_The_Castle_ (R) *** (out of ****)
Although Roger Ebert has called it "this year's _Full_Monty_," I'm not entirely certain that this Australian import will connect with American audiences like that flashy British sensation of two summers ago. In fact, the comparison is entirely unfair, for this lower-key, character-driven comedy is, for my money, better than that overrated fluke Best Picture nominee. The castle in question is the Kerrigan house, a modest abode situated next to the runway of an airport and underneath a bundle of power lines. When a proposed airport expansion threatens to claim his happy home and those of his neighbors, patriarch Darryl (Michael Caton) dares to take his case to court.
To be honest, this simple and straightforward "little guy versus the system" tale does not pack too many gutbusting laughs. In their place are smaller but ultimately more rewarding delights: a consistent stream of giggle-worthy lines and situations and, best of all, a wide variety of sharply defined personalities. Proud and loving Darryl is indeed the main character (played without a single false note by Caton), but the rest of the Kerrigan family and the other peripheral characters are allowed to carve out their own memorably quirky niches. Making the strongest impressions are Darryl's trading post-obsessed, "ideas man" middle son Steve (Anthony Simcoe) and Darryl's incompetent lawyer (Tiriel Mora). _The_Castle_ is as light and disposable as it appears to be, but there's no denying how efficient (the film runs a scant 89 minutes), crowdpleasing, and heartwarming an entertainment director Rob Sitch and writing collaborators Santo Cilauro, Tom Cleisner, and Jane Kennedy have created.
Michael Dequina
mrbrown@iname.com | michael_jordan@geocities.com
Mr. Brown's Movie Site: http://welcome.to/mrbrown
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