the castle (australia) review
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I watched Australian film The Castle untainted by hype or preconceived notions of the filmmaker’s tendencies or preferences. In this age of social media and trailer after trailer it’s rare (and fun!) to go in cluelessly. The Castle utilizes voiceover throughout the lion’s share of its runtime. We come to realize that unending tongue-in-cheek voiceover is the films charm. The filmmaker 101 concept of show and don’t tell is intentionally inverted and the result is awkwardly but undeniably funny in a broad “these people seem to know they are in a movie but also don’t care” Napoleon Dynamite type of way. Every character is absurdly saccharine to the point of unbelievability. A mafia hitman archetype threatens the main character at one point and he is…sincerely polite. Whether with them or at them, you’re laughing. The character’s blissful unawareness is the joke. I would be lying to you if I said I knew exactly what the director was going for and I’m 100% ok with that. We need more experimental cinema. Real Quick: It was an unexpected treat seeing a pre-Hulk Eric Bana in a minor role.