Rating: 
Summary: Charming Period Romance.
Review: 17-year-old Cassandra Mortmain (Romola Garai) lives with her eccentric father (Bill Nighy) and stepmother (Tara Fitzgerald), her older sister Rose (Rose Byrne), and younger brother in run-down castle in the English countryside. Her father is a struggling writer who is unable to reproduce the success of his first book, and, without an income, the family is plunged into poverty. When the old castle's owner dies, his nephews from America, Simon (Henry Thomas) and Neil (Marc Blucas), inherit the property and the neighboring estate. Rose sees the presence of these eligible bachelors as the opportunity of a lifetime to marry well, escape the countryside, and provide means for her family. But Cassandra and Rose's upbringing in isolation among idiosyncratic relatives may be an impediment as the young women find that they lack the understanding of society that would help them find husbands and love."I Capture the Castle" is based on the popular novel of the same name by Dodie Smith. It is basically a soap opera set in rural England of the 1930s. Poor young ladies meet rich eligible men and fall in love. But who will marry whom, and will they marry for love or money? But it is a charming soap opera -only slightly sappy- with an appealing conglomeration of attractive and eccentric characters. Cassandra, who narrates the story, is its flawed heroine, who tries her best to hold her family together and sort out everyone's problems. I'm not sure she acts like a 17-year-old. She is, by her own admission, "self-consciously naive". But I think the book and the film are aimed at a younger audience, so Cassandra is in many ways more like them. The film does have one unfortunate characteristic of a soap opera in that it eventually gives the impression of repeating itself. Nevertheless, it is a light-hearted entertaining story told through the occasionally melodramatic experiences of a reluctantly romantic young woman. Henry Thomas gives a nice convincing and sympathetic performance. Recommended, especially for 9-13 year old girls. Those who are familiar with the book may wonder why this movie is rated R, since the book is a favorite among pre-teen girls. It is rated R for nudity of the topless variety in one scene. It shouldn't be. Topaz, Cassandra's stepmother, is a bit of a nudist. Since brief topless nudity is permitted in the PG-13 rating, I have to say that this film was rated incorrectly. Without that scene, a PG rating would be appropriate. And that is what it received in most parts of the world. The DVD contains both full and wide screen versions of the film.
Rating: 
Summary: Loyal to the book
Review: A quaint but quirky story with great characters. The movie pictured the places and characters much as I pictured them in my head from the book. The plot and even some of the dialog were very faithful to the book, with only minor changes. If you love the book, you won't be disappointed in the movie.
Rating:
Summary: I Capture the Audience
Review: After seeing one of my favourite actors was in this movie I decided to read the book. The book is one of my favourites now, with the movie only being shown in one theatre downtown, my best friend and I made the trek taking subway, bus, and walking to find it. When we arrived we sat down in this very rundown theatre, our expectations were not high. The movie amazed us, the plot, dialogue, and actors were all incredible, I advise you see this movie or purchase as soon as you can.
Rating: 
Summary: totally ridiculous story and very boring, sucks big time!
Review: how could these people live in such dreary castle, without any income, for so many years? where they got their groceries, their education? if they were so poor, how come the two sisters could afford buying expensive furs from the upper class department store? and why they felt ashamed of what they wore and had to crawl away from the train station? they were so poor, but then suddenly, both sisters started wearing highly fashioned designer dresses, one after another, while their young step brother, step mother, the pathetic father, still wore twenty years' old costumes.....on and on, my god, what a stupid movie. lots of inexplanable craps in this so highly praised film and i was totally fooled by those untrue and ridiculous reviews. this story was obviously written by an english female writer who still lived in ivory tower. very very stupid movie, typical third rated english junk. while typing down my furious comments, i decide to stop watching it. don't want to waste my time and life away. gosh, even worse than 'the league of the extraordinary gentlemen', but both in any way are pure junks. horrible, just horrible!
Rating:
Summary: Lovely Movie
Review: I am mainly writing this review in response to one reviewer's comments about some of the "inexplicable" and "ridiculous" elements in the story. The sisters DID NOT BUY their furs at the expensive department store. They were simply picking up the furs there that they INHERITED from their rich aunt. This is explained in the movie. As for the other comments raised, it would be difficult to explain them all in the small space alloted here. These elements may seem confusing to young modern day viewers who do not have much knowledge about English history and society, as the story is set in the 1930's. But even if you know a little bit about how class-conscious society used to be, the movie should not be confusing to you at all. I have read the book, and I guess that to someone who hasn't read it and who doesn't know much about that time period, the movie may seem confusing at times. However,if you're a person who generally enjoys period movies, beautiful scenery, and love stories, you should definitely give this film a try.
Rating:
Summary: I Captured The Castle
Review: I am so grateful that by some trick of fate, I noticed that there was a movie of this wonderful book playing in only one obscure theatre in my geographic area.I am a very selective movie goer, and usually wind up in an obscure theatre, but this was truly a blessing.The movie is wonderful, thank God someone makes movies like this.The book is wonderful, and the movie stayed true.
Rating:
Summary: Let this Castle capture you
Review: I CAPTURE THE CASTLE is an inordinately beautiful film, blessed by a fine script adapted from the successful novel by Dodie Smith, a fine director who knows how to pace a film, beautiful cinematography, and a cast that is impeccable. "Capturing the castle" is both a real storyline and a metaphor for the struggle to find the self at the doorstep of maturity. What begins as a fairytale adventure - a small family moves into a real though dilapidated castle after the father is released from custody for wife abuse - becomes a withering fantasy as reality creeps into their lives. Since the mother died the father is unable to continue his successful flow of writing and hopes that living in a castle will open his writer's block. His daughters and son must adapt to the pauper life despite their 'castle', share their dreams, and eventually the light toward escape comes in the form of two American brothers who now own the property on which the castle sits. At this point the story frolics through the romances of the sisters, the addition of a stepmother and the eventual resolution of dreams for one daughter and the comfortable longing for love for the other daughter. The cast includes the radiant Romola Garai and Rose Byrne as the sisters, Bill Nighy as the blocked writer/father, Tara Fitzgerald (VERY sensitive actress) as the stepmother, Henry Thomas and Marc Bluca as the American brothers, and one Henry Cavill as Stephen - the beautiful Adonis boy who remains in the background and serves only as a sensual propellant to the girl's grounded dreams. In a field of movies that try very hard to be Oscar contenders, I CAPTURE THE CASTLE seems content to be exactly what it is - a luminously beautiful simple film that will capture your heart.
Rating: 
Summary: Why did they ditch half of the book's humor?
Review: I Capture the Castle is one of my favorite books and I was predisposed to love the film, but it came up short. The movie remains true to the book's plot, but adopted a seriocomic tone that was too heavy on the serious. The charm of the book lies in the wit of the narrator, Cassandra, even when she writes about her family's poverty, her father's temper, etc. It's all told from a comic slant that contrasts with the subject matter nicely. The movie lost that slant and wallowed in melodrama too often. For instance, the eccentric, selfish, but extremely charming, father becomes simply dysfunctional in the film, stripped of his charisma. The biggest flaw of the film is that the director, instead of standing in the narrator's 1930-ish shoes, imposes a modern context on the subject, which transformed it into a run-of-the-mill drama, and strips out most of the book's wittiness. The movie even adds a ridiculous touchy-feely reconciliation scene between the father and Cassandra at the end that would have made Dodie Smith puke. Sigh . . . Maybe someone who's more deft with period pieces will try a lighter hand with this material and get it right in the future.
Rating:
Summary: wonderful adaptation of a well-loved book
Review: I Capture the Castle, based on the 1933 novel of the same name by Dodie Smith, beautifully captures the characters and plot elements of the book and also stands on its own as an entertaining film. It is the story of a poor and isolated family in the English countryside. 17-year old Cassandra offers a charming (if flawed) narration to her family story -- the tale of how her brilliant novelist father's long-standing writer's block has affected her beautiful sister Rose and free-spirit stepmother Topaz. Things seem to be going nowhere but downhill until two brothers show up -- the new owners of the family's rundown castle. Though the plot has few surprises, the film is still quite engaging and fun, thanks in large part to a fine adaptation, great cast and terrific design. One needn't have read the book to enjoy the film, and those who love the book should not be disappointed. DVD extras include a commentary track with the director, writer and producer; an interview with Ramola Garai, who plays Cassandra (8 minutes); 4 deleted scenes and an alternate ending; a trailer. Language and subtitles are available in English only.
Rating:
Summary: Ten stars! What a wonderful surprise
Review: I had never heard of this movie when my husband rented it on DVD - and it is such a marvelous treasure. It's a luminous coming-of-age story about an English child/girl/woman (Ramola Garai) who lives with her father (Bill Nighy), a successful author suffering prolonged writer's block, gorgeous slightly older sister, bohemian arty stepmother (Tara Fitzgerald), and bespectacled young brother. They move to a cold, drafty, leaky, romantic and picturesque castle in the middle of nowhere, fall behind on the rent, wear an odd shade of green that resulted when the arty and lovely stepmom dyed damn near everything one day.
Rose, the older sister, yearns for wealth. The property on which they live is owned by two brothers who come to inspect things - and that's where the real story begins. Narrated through the POV of Cassandra (Garai), the movie turns into an utterly engaging, wise and wonderful coming-of-age tale of hopes, dreams, plots and counterplots, dashed yearnings, and a painful journey toward adulthood. Hilarious and bittersweet at the same time. Absolutely first-rate performances by the entire cast in a film which ends with the realistic but still hopeful line in 'words of one syllable': I love. I have loved. I will love.
I LOVED THIS MOVIE.
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