Simply A Masterpiece

Please don't spend money on this.

Let's be realistic.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Australia has always historically had a bit of a self-depreciating streak about it, deemed unofficially cultural cringe and dealt with unofficially with what we call tall poppy syndrome. We don't like someone who goes out of their way to show off how high and mighty they are. So The Castle is inherently a classic battler (underdog) story, about the little man sticking it to the bullying corporation. But if you saw what he was fighting for you might struggle to hold in a laugh. Dale Kerrigan narrates his family's life on 3 Highview Crescent, Coolaroo. It looks like a nice enough place until the camera pans ever so slightly to the left to reveal an airport runway not fifty metres from their backyard. Darryl fancies himself a bit of DIY guru so he has taken it upon himself to fashion 'extensions' of sorts, propped up by creaky metal scaffolding and tarps flapping about majestically in the wind. He and his family constantly beam inwardly and pinch themselves on getting such a prime piece of land for so cheap (its value hasn't risen once, despite all of Darryl's handiwork with the fake lace and chimney). Tracy is the prize hen of the Kerrigan's, and the only one in the family to have a Tafe degree (somewhat equivalent to a community college) in hairdressing, no less. The flip side of this situation is the black sheep, Wayne, who is in jail for attempted robbery. If you have ever lived in Australia you would know that we always start conversations or meetings with a "How are you" or a "how's it going", without actually wanting to know the specific answer to this question. It's a distinct pleasantry that has attached itself to our daily speech, and The Castle has a delightful play on this notion when Dale goes for his weekly visit to Wayne. They have nothing to talk about (Dale never mentions school, or a job, or anything remotely resembling a future prospect) so the entire conversation is basically a checklist of Wayne enquiring about the family's status: "How's Dad?", "Good", "How's Mum?", "Good", "How's Trace?", "Good" and so on for hours and hours. But they love each other very much all the same, and The Castle never tries to deny this. The Kerrigans and their ways are only a slight exaggeration from some working class Australian families, so the film is not laughing at them, but rather laughing with them. A key aspect of parody is being able to recognise these faults, and this makes the film so much more valuable when one can point out all the details it gets right. The serenity of a sweaty summer night for example, save for the constant hum of the bug zapper (and the cicadas, which the film forgets). Or how Darryl makes sure to use 'serenity' twice, as if to proudly demonstrate his knack for mastering slightly bigger words. The voice-over narration follows put; Dale's thought process is so literal he is sometimes simply followed by the exact dialogue of his recount. A young Eric Bana also joins in, pronouncing disenchanted like he had just looked it up in the dictionary and wants to impress his father-in-law. The family marvels at the luxurious riches afforded them on their honeymoon, mainly the freedom of choice between fish and beef wellington (an exotic term to them). One running joke has Steve constantly interrupting with listings from the sales section of the newspaper, and Darryl entertaining the idea of buying anything and everything, then shooting down the asking price without a second thought. Dads want to show that they are resourceful, but also frugal; Darryl has the uncanny ability to identify the market value of anything that Steve might want to purchase. One guy is selling seven eskies all at once. You can never have too many eskies. Rob Sitch would follow his directorial debut with another warmly Australian movie, The Dish, which was about the contributions of a small New South Wales town's radio telescope in the first manned mission to the moon. If these movies lean heavily on a certain type of caricature ala Ozploitation, then they do so in a good-natured way. They could never ever be set in the big city, where we have all but assimilated into the civilised ways of the west. These days, if we do say "You ripper!" it's probably in an intentional, ironic way, although like the film itself, there's an element of playing along with a grin.

This film is designated by IMDb.com as a comedy, and it is very funny. It's also often described as a film about the importance of having a benevolent family, and it is that also. But what makes it so unusual and so emotionally powerful is its theme (from which the title is derived): A man's home is his castle. It's about the injustice of eminent domain, more prevalent in the USA than in Australia. The reasons that the Kerrigan family gives for fighting "compulsory acquisition" of their home mirrors what has happened for many decades in the US, most notably in the notorious 2005 Kelo case, which the Supreme Court decided 5-4 against the homeowners. Home (and business) owners who fight eminent domain are not interested in compensation; they love their homes and what those homes mean, and they don't want to move. "The Castle" dramatizes those values and dramatizes the fight in any nation of individuals against the premise that one's property belongs to the state and can be taken from them to serve the "public good." "The Castle" is a hilarious, cleverly written and well-acted film that does what so few films even try to do: it inspires.

The Castle reminds me a bit of Gregory's Girl. It's not that these films share similar plot-lines, they don't. It's just that they're both comedies with very regionalized characters with awful haircuts, shot on a tiny budget, with a dated cheesy soundtrack and zero cinematic style. Both films, too, have deep affection for their central characters. While I do prefer Gregory's Girl, this is because I can relate to it more. I found The Castle to be amusing as opposed to laugh-out-loud hilarious. Its story about the little man against the big corporation wasn't in truth all that interesting but it did serve the film with a narrative thrust to base its characters around. And I guess that really this film is very much more about the characters than anything else plot-related or otherwise. I watched the film with an Aussie who seemed to pick up more specific things about these people than I ever could. It does seem that The Castle is a film that is unashamedly primarily made by Australians for Australians. That's not to say that most Aussies resemble this family of honourable half-wits. They do not, but the unpretentious attitude of the Kerrigan family and friends is one that seems to fit the rest of the world's perceptions of the inhabitants of Oz.If I'm being honest I found the story of the court battle against the big business to be the least satisfying aspect to this film. It was much better when it just concentrated on the little things like its characters quirks. The whole court battle almost seemed forced, as though the writers felt that a character-driven plot-less film would not have been enough. I think it would have though and the whole little man against The Man stuff made it all less believable and less interesting.Overall though, this is a good film. It's not essential but it will provide you with a few laughs along the way. Oh and another thing, the boy who narrates the story sports a mullet so disgusting that I swear it made me feel a little unwell.

When I was young, there were several movies, such as "Liar, Liar", that I only enjoyed for the unsophisticated, slapstick parts, but as I grew up, I could appreciate the witty, sophisticated jokes peppered throughout. As a kid, I did not understand "The Castle" at all. Now that I'm older, it is my favourite comedy. Why? Because it ingeniously combines complex comedy and emotion, and has a delightful, incredibly subtle tongue-in-cheek approach. It challenges you to think how it could be better, but is totally victorious.The characters are deliciously authentic and astonishingly likable, from the clueless Dennis Denuto to the almost unrealistically optimistic father. The dialogue is superbly witty, and the level of joy and heartbreak throughout is wonderfully affecting.Perfect.