At the start of ‘The Castle’, the jovial Kerrigan family enjoys a chicken dinner service by Sal, wife to proud Darryl and mother to a daughter Tracey and sons Dale, Steve, and Wayne. Currently imprisoned Wayne is the only one missing from this feast. As Dad (Michael Caton) sits down, he spots something on the chicken and asks his wife, Anne Tenney, what she has put on it. “Seasoning” she responds proudly. Dad beams, “Seasoning! Looks like everybody’s kicked a goal. And so life spins along at 3 Highview Crescent in Melbourne, where the Kerrigan home sits surrounded by its built-on rooms, screened-in porch, greyhound kennel, big-dish satellite, and carport. To Darryl, it is less of a house and more a shrine to one of the best darn families in the universe: as he proudly highlights the plastic Victorian gingerbread trim and fake chimney to an inspector there to condemn the property’s use under the laws of eminent domain.
The Kerrigans would love to stay right where they are. They have heard the popular phrase in real estate “location, location, location.” Given the property’s proximity to the airport, how can they possibly improve their home’s location? So close, that jumbo jets fly a stone’s throw from their boundary line and the house shakes when the planes take off.
“The Castle,” which was directed by Rob Sitch, stood out the same way “The Full Monty” or “Waking Ned Devine” did. The film captures the lives of its characters with a comedic touch. The Kerrigans are perhaps the proudest and happiest family you’ve ever met, what with Dad having Chase’s Towing and the inventions of Steve, the idea man, who specializes in tool assembly. Tracy (Sophie Lee) is the only college graduate (from a beauty school), and Dale (Stephen Curry) is the narrator. Dale quotes his father often, who, whilst gazing up at pylons that tower above the house, mutters, Power lines are a reminder of man being able to generate electricity. The dad is a bit of an idea man himself. For example, he noticed that a room was very narrow, so he built a pool table that was not much wider than the room it would go in.
At the same time, Steve looks for deals in the Trader ad paper and discovers gems like Jousting sticks! Make us an offer Dale proudly states “The television is definitely turned down.” Mealtime is family bonding at its best. This is why the Kerrigans feel a sense of loss to learn that eviction from their castle may be pending, a fate that they share with Farouk and Jack.
This movie features the comical inner workings and stunningly contained family life of the Kerrigans. Family members possess the capability of thinking as one. Darryl begins his toast at the wedding of his daughter by, speaking as the bride’s parents. The Kerrigans are healthy and wholesome slices of Australia’s vast and strange families, like the dysfunctional freaks of Muriel’s Wedding, or the sisters from “Love Serenade” who date a fish disc jockey. I can imagine them seated in the audience for the finals of Strictly Ballroom. The film creates tension with its (or is it a very small) courtroom finale. The Kerrigans set out to claim legal defenses against eviction and employ a lawyer, Dennis Denuto, whom they are not very fond of (who uses his expertise for repossessions, of course).
He approaches the bench to inquire, “How am I faring?” or to urgently plead, “Can you present me with an angle?” He certainly tries (Dale shares with us that he “actually studied Roman numerals” just for the appeal), but their chances do not improve until a gentle, old constitutional law expert (Charles “Bud” Tingwell) joins them.
This is the type of film that used to be British and black and white, featuring Peter Sellers, Alec Guinness, Terry-Thomas, and Ian Carmichael. It revolves around figures who hold an extremely unwavering opinion about the universe and their position within it, looking out at the world with a gaze from a castle-like home. The film is not shocking, daring, or vulgar in any sense, but rather comes across as exquisitely content as the Kerrigans are when Mom serves dessert pound cake but is surprisingly inventive enough to sprinkle icing sugar on top. At that moment, she does not need any suggestion that she has scored a goal.
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