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Drama
Romance
Based on Novel
England
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I Capture The Castle
I Capture the Castle
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3 ½ stars
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Rated R for brief nudity
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Director
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Tim Fywell
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A true heroine
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Starring
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Romola Garai
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Rose Byrne
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Henry Thomas
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Marc Blucas
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Bill Nighy
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Tara Fitgerald
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Sinead Cusack
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Henry Cavill
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The Mortmains are a madly eccentric English family, held on the verge of financial ruin in an ancient, crumbling castle in the countryside during the 1930's. James Mortmain ((Bill Nighy) suffers from writer's block, which threatens to become permanent, as he has been unable to write a single word of prose in twelve years. They live on the royalties paid on a best seller he wrote many, many years ago. His younger daughter Cassandra (Romola Garai) has the heart of an artist as she dashes off real and imagined scenarios in her journal, and narrates the story for us. Rose, her older sister is a red-haired beauty with a passionate desire to escape the castle and the family's poverty. The girls' stepmother, Topaz, is an artist and a practicing nudist.
Yes, this is a British comedy with an assortment of quirky characters and a couple of handsome Americans (ripe for picking by the penniless Mortmain sisters) thrown in. The Cotton brothers, Simon (Henry Thomas) and Neil (Marc Blucas) arrive from America to claim an inheritance, which includes the castle. Topaz sees this as an opportunity to avoid being tossed out and to have Rose marry a rich man. Problems solved. She invites the Cottons to dinner and Rose exhibits her limited talents for singing and playing.
The young men's English born mother, played by Sinead Cusack, sees through the plan, but she's charmed by the Mortmains and quite interested in getting to know James a bit better. Which sister belongs with what brother is in question as young love awakens, and the inevitable heartbreak follows. And the mature set has its dalliances as well.
The photography is brilliant and the lighting magnificent. The dark, dank castle has a rough beauty and the sets and costumes are lush. There's a lot of fun here, good story telling and a rich, textured production about first love and growing up¾at any age.
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