The Castle (1997)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Rob Sitch

Writers:

Santo Cilauro (written by)
Tom Gleisner (written by)

Release Date:

7 May 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Ordinary Family. Extraordinary Story.

Plot:

A Melbourne family is very happy living where they do, near the Melbourne airport (according to Jane Kennedy...

Plot Keywords:

Airport | Prison | Court Case | Photocopier | Aviation

Awards:

2 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Michael Caton	...	Darryl Kerrigan
Anne Tenney	...	Sal Kerrigan
Stephen Curry	...	Dale Kerrigan
Anthony Simcoe	...	Steve Kerrigan
Sophie Lee	...	Tracy Kerrigan
Wayne Hope	...	Wayne Kerrigan
Tiriel Mora	...	Dennis Denuto
Eric Bana	...	Con Petropoulous
Charles 'Bud' Tingwell	...	Lawrence Hammill
Robyn Nevin	...	Federal Court Judge
Costas Kilias	...	Farouk
Bryan Dawe	...	Ron Graham
Monty Maizels	...	Jack
Lynda Gibson	...	Evonne
John Benton	...	Mr. Lyle

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:PG (TV rating) (censored) | Malaysia:U | UK:15 | Australia:M | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

Company:

Working Dog

Trivia:

The family was named Kerrigan so the filmmakers could borrow trucks from an actual tow-truck company, Kerrigan's Towing.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When the characters have their final appeal to the High Court of Australia, it is before 5 Justices. However in reality, when a constitutional dispute is brought before the High Court, all 7 Justices will sit (known as the Full Bench).

Quotes:

Dale Kerrigan: Dad reckons fishing is 10% brains and 95% muscle, the rest is just good luck.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "20 to 1: Great Aussie Movies (#3.5)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Tequila

Shocking! Absolutely Shocking!

This is a shocking movie. Shocking in the sense that it's centered around a family that genuinely loves each other. It came across as such an odd concept in this day and age that I thought at first that there must be a catch - could the family be cannibals? Zombies? A cult of pagan jaywalkers? But no, they were simply a "family" in absolutely the best sense of the word. The conflict of the movie arises from the fact that the airport bordering their loving home wants to expand and uses some Australian law that grants them the right to buy out their neighbors without the neighbors having any sayso in the matter. Well this just won't do and so the plot is set into motion when the quirky homeowner decides to fight the ruling with his reluctant friend, a probate attorney who is woefully unprepared to take on the big guns in law, but who nonetheless feels obligated to help his friends no matter what the obstacle. Overall the movie has such charm, such style and such love that, by films end, you want to be adopted by the family, quirks and all. An excellent movie.