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Movies / On DVD / I Capture the Castle
I Capture the Castle

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I Capture the Castle (2003)

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Reviews Counted:80

Fresh:64

Rotten:16

Average Rating:6.6/10

Consensus: A handsome and charming adaptation of the novel.

Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: 1934. Seventeen-year-old Cassandra (ROMOLA GARAI) lives in a dilapidated castle in Suffolk with her eccentric family. Her father, Mortmain (BILL NIGHY), is a reclusive writer who has been suffering... 1934. Seventeen-year-old Cassandra (ROMOLA GARAI) lives in a dilapidated castle in Suffolk with her eccentric family. Her father, Mortmain (BILL NIGHY), is a reclusive writer who has been suffering from writer's block ever since the publication of his highly-acclaimed debut novel twenty years previously. His wife died some years ago and Mortmain is now married to Topaz, a beautiful and bohemian former artists' model several years younger than him. Cassandra has a younger brother, Thomas (JOE SOWERBUTTS), and an older sister, Rose (ROSE BYRNE), the beauty of the family who is desperate to escape their impoverished circumstances. Lastly there is Stephen (HENRY CAVILL), who works for the family (now unpaid) but is more like a sibling. Stephen adores Cassandra but, despite his good looks, she is not in love with him.

The family is thrown into crisis when Mortmain's royalty statement - their financial lifeline - arrives with no payment due. Another letter informs them that their benevolent landlord, Sir William Cotton, has died and that the two year rent arrears are now due. Mortmain hides from the crisis, idling in his study. Unlike her father, Cassandra takes refuge in writing. She starts a diary, wittily re-interpreting the events that follow in an attempt to capture the life she wishes she could lead.

When Sir William's heir to the estate and castle arrive from America with his family, it is as if Rose's prayers have been answered - he could be her ticket out of poverty. The indomitable Mrs Cotton (SINEAD CUSACK) has two sons - Simon (HENRY THOMAS), the eldest, is more academic than his tougher younger brother, Neil (MARC BLUCAS). For Cassandra and Rose, socialising with the Cottons is a heady taste of another world and even Mortmain is flattered by Mrs Cotton's interest in him.

One evening while the two families are dining together at the castle, Cassandra takes Neil swimming in the castle moat in order to allow Simon the perfect opportunity to propose to Rose. Everyone is delighted at the engagement, apart from Neil. Rose is whisked to London in preparation for her wedding.

On Midsummer's day, Simon visits the castle alone. He and Cassandra spend a magical evening together and as they dance, Simon impulsively kisses her. He means nothing by it, but she is mortified - she is in love with her sister's fiancé. On her birthday a few days later, Stephen and Cassandra share a passionate embrace but Cassandra refuses to give in to her burgeoning desires because she knows she does not love him. Confused by her emotions, Cassandra rushes to London to confront Rose who tearfully admits she is not in love with Simon. However, she insists that she will go through with the wedding for all of their sakes.

Cassandra refuses to stay with Rose and spends a lonely night waiting in a café for the first train home. She turns to Stephen, but admits to him that she is in love with Simon. She is no longer the child who tries to hold off the pain of growing up by re-writing life in her diary. On her return to the castle, Cassandra rows with Mortmain about his creative block and emotional reserve which has distanced everyone he has loved - his first wife, Topaz, now living in London, and his children. He lashes out at her but is then filled with remorse. They reconcile. Cassandra unknowingly takes on the role of her mother as she quietly sits beside Mortmain until he finally begins to write.

But their solitude is broken when Simon storms into the house with some devastating news - Rose has left him. A telegram alerts them to Rose's whereabouts and Simon and Cassandra set off find her at the seaside hotel. But what awaits them shocks both Cassandra and Simon - she is there with Neil.

It is Stephen who brought them together for, as he reveals to Cassandra on Rose and Neil's wedding day, he saw them secretly kiss soon after their first meeting and, after his last conversation with Cassandra, decided to tell Neil everything. Blissfully married, Rose and Neil leave for America. Simon hints to Cassandra that they could have a future together but she is now honest enough to know that she shouldn't take him up on it. She intends to love and be loved in her own right, without reservation. -- © Samuel Goldwyn Films/IDP Films [More]

Starring: Romola Garai, Rose Byrne, Henry Thomas, Marc Blucas

Starring: Romola Garai, Rose Byrne, Henry Thomas, Marc Blucas, Bill Nighy, Tara Fitzgerald, Henry Cavill, Sinead Cusack

Director: Tim Fywell

Director: Tim Fywell
Screenwriter: Heidi Thomas
Producer: David Parfitt
Composer: Dario Marianelli
Studio: IDP Distribution

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Reviews for I Capture the Castle

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
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Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
12/19/03
Empire Magazine
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
07/08/03
Guardian [UK]
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
05/24/03
Channel 4 Film
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
05/07/03
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

An enjoyable if sudsy growing pains yarn.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
05/07/03
Stella Papamichael
Stella Papamichael
BBC
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/26/09
Andy Klein
Andy Klein
Variety
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
N/R

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Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
04/27/07
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer

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Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat
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Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
05/19/04
Jeff Strickler
Jeff Strickler
Minneapolis Star Tribune

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Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
04/26/04
Greg Muskewitz
Greg Muskewitz
eFilmCritic.com

...mines the rich veins of both Austen and Fitzgerald. But Fywell lets his focus wander. By the end Castle seems to come apart stone by stone.

Full Review Source: Boulder Weekly | comment Comment
02/09/04
Thomas Delapa
Thomas Delapa
Boulder Weekly

The fancy-pants accents and period costuming make one feel intellectually smug, as if the afternoon had been spent watching a Merchant-Ivory film - only without the tedium of actually sitting through a Merchant-Ivory film.

Full Review Source: Roanoke Times (Virginia) | comment Comment
10/20/03
Beth Jones
Beth Jones
Roanoke Times (Virginia)

Romala Garai is utterly convincing as the smart, wistful girl with the notebook.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
10/14/03
Marcy Dermansky
Marcy Dermansky
About.com

A quirky and handsome family drama that nicely captures the pangs and pleasures of adolescence.

Full Review Source: Capital Times (Madison, WI) | comment Comment
10/09/03
Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

The film is a charmer. It's romantic, funny and satisfying.

Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
10/03/03
Robert W. Butler
Robert W. Butler
Kansas City Star

Better on set-up than follow-through.

Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
09/12/03
Steve Schneider
Steve Schneider
Orlando Weekly

It has just enough charm to be watchable.

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
09/12/03
Jay Boyar
Jay Boyar
Orlando Sentinel
 
 
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