'I Captured the Castle' hardly counts as a proper film

I Captured the Castle

Director: Tim Fywell

Cast: Romola Garai, Rose Byrne, Henry Thomas, Bill Nighy, Tara Fitzgerald, Marc Blucas, Henry Thomas

Cert: 15.

A low-key, though not unsatisfactory, adaptation of Dodie Smith's novel … made as a film which looks more like a TV drama.

Nighy and Fitzgerald, he a writer whose muse has vanished, she his flighty wife, live in a ruined castle with their two daughters and son. It is an ideal lifestyle, eventually disturbed when the castle is taken over by a good-looking American (Thomas) and dodgy brother (Blucas). The daughters find romance blossoming.

It's a gentle British film with several good moments, but it is such a low-key affair that it hardly counts as a proper film.

What does give it an edge is the playing of Nighy (a sort of bumbling poor man's Hugh Grant), Fitzgerald and the wonderful Garai. There is plenty of wit about the screenplay and you view the film with a strong desire to love it, really love it. And you probably will … but burning passion just isn't a part of the deal.

Star Rating: 3/5