I Capture the Castle Review

by Susan Granger (ssg722 AT aol DOT com)
August 4th, 2003
Susan Granger's review of "I Capture the Castle" (Samuel Goldwyn Films) Cassandra (Romola Garai) and Rose (Rose Byrne) Mortmain are hardly fairy-tale princesses but they are imprisoned a decrepit, dilapidated rural castle in Suffolk, England, in this adaptation of the 1948 novel by British writer Dodie Smith, who later went on to write "101 Dalmatians."
    The narrated diary of 17 year-old Cassandra reveals the story of her eccentric, impoverished family, back in the 1930s. Her father James (Bill Nighy) is a frustrated, reclusive writer, once a literary phenomenon, who moved into the crumbling castle vowing to "write masterpieces." His first wife died awhile ago and he is now married to free-spirited Topaz (Tara Fitzgerald). But he's two years in arrears on rent. That leaves Cassandra, her beautiful, scheming, ambitious older sister Rose, younger brother and unpaid orphan servant in genteel poverty when their wealthy new American landlords, the Cottons, move into nearby Scoatney Hall: an American academic (Henry Thomas of "E.T."), his fun-loving brother (Marc Blucas) and mother (Sinead Cusack). Screenwriter Heidi Thomas and director Tim Fywell focus the coming-of-age plot around which sister will become romantically involved with which brother. The two actresses are lovely; Romola Garai stars in the upcoming "Havana Nights," the highly anticipated sequel to "Dirty Dancing," while Rose Byrne is currently filming the epic "Troy," opposite Brad Pitt. The two American actors are less impressive, seemingly quite uncomfortable with the Jane Austen-like cadence of the language. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "I Capture the Castle" is a charming 7, appealing more to teenage girls than boys, and enhanced by the recommendation of "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling, who has called "I Capture the Castle" her favorite book.

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