Recently Seen, Part 13 (February 2018)

[plsletitrain]

The Castle (Australia, 1997)- Dubbed as Australia’s greatest comedy movie of all time, The Castle is a nice and touching comedy family movie. This is about the Kerrigan family who lived in a house near the airport. They’re a loving family filled with nothing but just joyous moments until news of airport expansion warrants them to leave their home. They were offered with compensation but the family, especially the patriarch, Darryl, refuses to leave. He declined all diplomatic efforts from the developer and the government, so their case reached the courts. On the losing end, and without an expert lawyer on the field to defend him, Darryl tries all his might to win the case. He randomly meets Lawrence Hamill, a retired lawyer and an expert on the field, who will help him argue his case.


The witty exchanges and facial expressions and gestures of Darryl really brought this movie to LOL-worthy levels. This is very very funny yet not Praybeyt Benjamin and The Super Parental Guardians level of funny. @clayton-12 is that why you are ambivalent towards it? You also mentioned this film is mostly quoted, and I can see why. There are many quotable quotes in here, short, witty lines. I quoted hereunder those lines where I bursted into laughter, among others.

Judge: What law are you basing that argument on?
Darryl: The law on bloody common sense!!!!
-----------------------------

Judge: The government has the authority to take a house for compensation.
Darryl: That is not a house! That is a home!
----------------------------

Judge: What section of the Constitution was violated?
Lawyer: There is no, uhm...particular section in the Constitution that was violated...It is the, uhm, erm...the ah, "vibe"!

---------------------------

When they were on oral arguments and his lawyer saw that the other party's lawyer had a collaborating counsel/solicitor/barrister who was handing notes to the main arguer. His lawyer also handed a note that said "glass of water???"

---------------------------

Recommended.

 

[clayton-12]

is that why you are ambivalent towards it?

Hard to say ... lol. I think the main reason actually stems from the fact that Nadia Tass's Mr. Reliable, which was released a few months before and is not dissimilar in theme and tone, had quite unfairly bombed at the box office, and I predicted the same fate for The Castle. Maybe sour grapes or tall poppy syndrome. On the first viewing, I found the Kerrigans dim-witted and slightly cringe-worthy, rather than endearing ... it's a film that I reluctantly embraced with the passage of time, whereas most of fellow countrymen watched it and immediately said "That's going straight to the poolroom!".

It is the, uhm, erm...the ah, "vibe"!

I've heard that one quoted by a judge in the Supreme Court here - "So what you're basically saying is that it is the vibe?"

 

[plsletitrain]

I've heard that one quoted by a judge in the Supreme Court here - "So what you're basically saying is that it is the vibe?"

A tip for lawyers: When you've lost all legal arguments to win your case, just use the Constitution's vibe. Hehehe.