Review of The Castle (1997) by Kevin M. W — 31 May 2017

The Castle is a hilarious tale of an Australian family that is one of a kind. The whole family is filled with extremely dumb (or maybe just ignorant) people. But at the same time they are also wholeheartedly devoted to one another. It's interesting because the movie seems to allow for us to laugh at some of the silly things they do or say, but the movie never treats them as a joke. They are elevated as loving, kind, and accepting.

The beginning of the film has a long sequence where we are introduced to what life is like for this crazy family, and it delivers a lot of laughs. It's the kind of humor I miss in most modern movies, because it doesn't feel like their fighting for the laugh, they just let the situation and the characters they've developed provide the humor. As the movie progresses there is a dilemma that comes up and we get to see this family in a crisis.

It's about the time it transitioned into the crisis that I realized the effectiveness of The Castle. Because of how lovingly the characters have been treated up to that point, despite how silly they are, I cared about them. I was cheering for them to succeed and the movie almost made me get emotional once. I wouldn't say the movie is perfect, but it delivered a lot of humor and heart. It's one I can see myself recommending and rating higher when I've watched it more.