Famed Australian film critic David Stratton has revealed the Aussie movie he regrets giving a bad review.
The 85-year-old told The Sydney Morning Herald, he ‘completely misunderstood’ the 1997 classic film The Castle and awarded it just one and a half stars.
‘It was the first film made by a team that worked in television, and it looked to me like a telemovie, whereas I’m very much into the visual side of cinema,’ he explained.
‘I also found the humour a little bit patronising.’
David admitted he has since watched the film several times and finds it very entertaining.
‘But I obviously completely misunderstood it, as I have watched it a few times since, and I now think it’s very funny,’ he continued.
Famed Australian film critic David Stratton has revealed the Aussie movie he regrets giving a bad review
The 85-year-old told The Sydney Morning Herald, he ‘completely misunderstood’ the 1997 classic film The Castle and awarded it just one and a half stars. Pictured the cast of the film
Along with his co-host Margaret Pomeranz, Stratton was on air for 28 years, first as host of the Movie Show on SBS and then on the ABC with At The Movies.
Disagreements with ABC management saw he and Pomeranz leave the show in 2014.
Stratton continued to his keep his toes in film, appropriately teaching a class in the history of cinema at Sydney University.
The Castle, originally released in 1997, is a comedy about a blue collar family who battle with developers.
Anne Tenney, Stephen Curry, Sophie Lee, Eric Bana and Charles ‘Bud’ Tingwell, starred alongside Michael Caton in the ultra-low budget film.
The films creators Rob Sitch, Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner, and Jane Kennedy later made another comedy classic The Dish in 2000.
Despite its extremely low budget of just $750,000, The Castle was a financial success, grossing $10.3million at the box office in Australia.
Caton became a popular star in Australia after playing the lead role in The Castle – a Melbourne family man who fights to keep his home from being acquired by the government in its plans to expand a nearby airport.
Stratton hosted the popular series The Movies Show on SBS and At The Movies on ABC with Margaret Pomeranz
Since then, Caton has appeared in a slew of top-tier Australian dramas including Packed to the Rafters, Strange Bedfellows, The Animal and All Saints.
He also starred alongside Sam Neill in Rams last year, and in the Packed to the Rafters reboot, Back to the Rafters.
In 2021, Caton revealed he was paid a pittance to star as Darryl Kerrigan in The Castle, pocketing just $3000 for his time.
‘Eleven-day shoot, $3000, but decades of career after. That’s the real payment of The Castle,’ Caton told ABC’s Australian Story.
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