Rating: 
Summary: This review is going straight to the poolroom!
Review: My favorite movie of all time - the Working Dog team has maintained its extremely high quality (Frontline, The Late Show, The Panel) and produced a movie that is both piss funny and touching.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: I actually laughed so hard I stopped breathing. I watched it three times in a row, in as many days, and little in humor was lost. After spending 6 weeks in Australia, where I actually saw it, I think I may appreciate it more than most. Let me put it to you this way. If the idotic antics of Homer Simpson tear you up, then you will kick your self for not seeing this movie earlier. Because this is a family of Homer Simpsons. In fact they're so stupid, you might wonder how they got a house to begin with. Oh yeah, because it's practically under an Airport. And when the father stands there, and silently marvels at the high tension electric wires because, "they're a sign a progress." you get some idea as to the depths of retardation this family goes. But at the same time, I actually cared about the characters, which is so rare in contemporary story telling. Even the Narration is hilarious. I strongly approve of this movie. And for the people who didn't care for this movie... I dunno, move to Australia, and watch it again. And see if you don't find yourself silently pulling for them.
Rating: 
Summary: The kind of comedy Australians do best
Review: Plenty of Australian movie comedy tries to ape its international counterparts, and doesn't really succeed (Muriel's Wedding, Welcome to Woop Woop, The Boyfriend from Hell, and a whole lot of 10BA trash). Big gags and outrageous characters just don't come off. In spite of the reputation Australians have for occasional loudness and coarseness, Australian humour is actually quite subtle. The people responsible for The Castle are also behind a droll series called Fronline, which is like Drop the Dead Donkey only funny. Above all else, The Castle is a dialect comedy. Stand-ups on the Borscht Belt Circuit could raise a giggle just by saying "What a schmuck!". Lynda Gibson does it with a drag on her cigarette and "Get your hand off it, Daryl." The dialogue reminds me of Roy & H.G. pitched and paced at a level which can last for 90 minutes. Most American viewers seem to like the characters; if you have even a limited understanding of the Australian dialect, it's much richer. Like the cute little exchange about moving the Camira to get out the Cortina. Personally, I fell for the running gags. (I cracked up when I saw the overhead projector) Castle fans visiting Australia will be delighted to hear that that Gleisner, Sitch et al do a witty chat show every week called The Panel. Catch it. Oh, BTW. I can confirm that the lake at Bonnie Doon is now COMPLETELY dry.
Rating: 
Summary: lackluster, laughless comedy
Review: "The Castle," a highly praised Australian farce, is a decidedly minor, lackluster and virtually laughless installment in the recently very popular genre known as the offbeat working class comedy. This vain attempt to mine the territory exploited so successfully a few years back in "The Full Monty," mistakes quirkiness for humor, so much so that it is not overstating it to say that there is nary a laugh in the film's entire (and blessedly brief) 84 minute running time. The film hits the wrong note from the very beginning with its overly cutesy premise: a family of preposterously upbeat and utterly addled Australians, living a mere stone's throw away from a major airport, are threatened with eviction from the hovel they call home to make way for some airport expansion. The concept of a house situated virtually on a busy runway may strike some people as the height of hilarity, but it is a joke that grows wearisome when stretched to the extent of a full length movie. The father inspires his family on a daily basis with his Pangloss-like view of the best of all possible worlds, and it is he, when confronted with this uncaring menace from the outside world, who leads the fight to save his homestead and those of his neighbors. "The Castle" might have been a very wild, daring comedy had the writers not settled for a cast of characters so devoid of basic human intelligence that they emerge as pathetic rural caricatures towards which the audience can feel patronizingly superior. This slackjawed quality of mindless innocence on the part of most of the characters results in a broadness in the comedy that essentially robs it of any sophistication. Joke after joke simply falls flat, and the constant repetition of various series of jokes (the father's inane daily awe at the mundane culinary concoctions of his wife, his obsession with achieving cutthroat bargains on used items etc.) drains what little humor the comical concepts carry the first time around. "The Castle" emerges as a well-intentioned "nice" film, but it commits the gravest sin for which no comedy can be forgiven - it is simply not funny.
Rating:
Summary: The opposite of letting us down
Review: I saw The Castle in a theatre in Harlow, England 3 years ago. I live in Slovakia and ever since that time I've been waiting for it to come here and looking for it in video stores every time I go to the UK. I liked this film because I liked all of the characters who were close to that family. Except for that famous barrister at the end, they are all simple people with good hearts. At one point, the father says that he feels bad because he feels like he let down the family. And then one of his sons says, "Dad, I don't know what the opposite of letting someone down is, but that's what you did". I almost started crying at that point. I don't get to the cinema as much as I used to, but this is one of the best films I've seen in that last 5 years. If I'm not mistaken, there are two actors in this film who also appeared in Muriel's Wedding. The youngest son who is also the narrator plays Muriel's boyfriend in Sydney and the daughter plays one of those horrible cutesy "friends" of Muriel's. This is a good hearted film about people standing up for what they believe in. Everyone is welcome in that family.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: Above all the Kerrigans love and respect one another. The Castle inspired me to celebrate the members of my family with the same unabashed enthusiasm that Darrel has for his wife and children. No robinwilliamsesque preaching however, it's all wrapped up in pure comedy. This is a must see and a must own!
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious
Review: This is the funniest movie of my entire collection. It makes you laugh, makes you feel good and wholesome. I just wanted to write this review to thank my Aussie friend and colleague Steve for recommending it.
Rating:
Summary: Whats this luv? Rissoles...
Review: My goodness, there is no other way to describe this movie, except by saying "Awesome". I've seen it 3 times now, and still love watching it now. Darryl is great, along with the rest of his family. the Kerrigan family rule!
Rating:
Summary: "The Castle" is wonderful
Review: I loved "The Castle" and have seen it 6 times now. This is a "feel good" show that has no senseless violence, no senseless sex, and no senseless scenes. If you like to watch good shows that make you feel good and help put things in perspective, then you'll love this one.
Rating:
Summary: I'd put it straight in the pool room!
Review: There is a little of each one of us Aussies in this movie and we love us! It proves that a great idea doesn't need millions of dollars and big name stars.......just people with dreams and a story worth telling.......And anyone who has ever used a photocopier will empathise! My copy goes straight to the pool room!
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