Didier Flamand, Donal Logue, Maria Verdi

The Chateau is a trifle, yet it may stick in your head. Paul Rudd and Romany Malco play two American brothers, Graham and Allen, who inherit an enormous French chateau when their hitherto unkno...( read more  read more... )wn great-uncle dies. The bickering pair, equipped with only a smattering of French, soon discover that the chateau is hugely in debt and the servants don't want to leave. While trying to sell the place, they vie for the affections of a sweet maid (Sylvie Testud) and comically grapple with cultural differences. The Chateau has a bit of social satire, some deft character portraits, and some very funny mangled French. Rudd and Malco banter entertainingly; Rudd is particularly good, both funny and a little sad as Graham flails to find a new life that he didn't fully realize he wanted. Though slight, the movie has surprising moments that cut deeper than you'd expect. --Bret Fetzer

Flixster Users

31% liked it

792 ratings

Critics

50% liked it

52 critics

R, 92 min.

Directed by: Jesse Peretz

Release Date: June 1, 2001

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DVD Release Date: September 23, 2003

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Stats: 43 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (43)


  • November 30, 2008
    An ok movie that is entertaining and funny at times and then just boring at other.
  • July 30, 2009
    I have to give this film one and a half stars due to several reasons. One being how boring and dull it was. It is supposed to be a Comedy but it wasn't very funny...it'll make you laugh a few times and that's it. It is more of a weird indie film than a Comedy. Another problem I h...( read more)ad with this film was the direction. The camera is always at bad angles and the picture is horrible. The picture is always grainy...I think that would be something that the director intended to do but it was a very bad move. It made him look like an ammature which he might be because I've never even heard of Jesse Peretz before. He doesn't look like an ammature just because of the picture though because the angles he used were bad as well and the camera always moving too much. It isn't a Horror movie...it is a Comedy! So, there is no need for the constant movement. This is just an overall bad movie that could have been a lot better. I don't blame the actors for the failure of this film but the director and writer.
  • January 31, 2009
    I usually like the movies that Paul Rudd are in, but this one I could not wait until it was over. I thought it was rather dull and stupid and it felt like it dragged on forever. Not a movie that I wish to see again. I think I laughed a couple of times, but it was not enough to sa...( read more)ve this movie.
  • November 26, 2008
    Very funny...Romany Malco is hilarious
  • July 29, 2008
    Graham" (Paul Rudd) and his adopted, African-American brother (Romany Malco) go to France to claim a chateau they have inherited from an uncle they don't know.

    The two meet the staff of the place, and there is an immediate language barrier and culture clash.

    Now, the two ...( read more)have to figure out what to do with the place.

    The first thing you can't help notice is that the film itself is very grainy. In fact, at times, I felt like I was watching video transferred to film. At other times, I felt as if the footage was a lot older than it is.

    However, there are some good performances in this film. But, some interaction was hard to believe. There was probably some problems in the writing of the scenes, because this script was far from perfect. The two leads did a pretty good job,and many times appeared to be more friends than adoptive brothers.

    If I am not mistaken, this movie is suppose to be a comedy. When you have people speaking two different languages with no way of being able to understand one another, it can be funny -- if the script is done properly. This movie missed many times to take advantage of this problem. If the two lead Americans were more comical, then they could have made the scenes a lot more funny. They completely missed making them understandable to the French funnier.

    Another problem was the weakly written romantic subplot. I felt little to no chemistry between the ones involved in this plot device.

    Another problem with this film is that it mostly takes place in the chateau and its grounds. We get a couple of scenes on a train and at a train station, but we never get to meet anybody who lives near the place. They never even go to a nearby village where the two Americans could have gone to for whatever reason, lose their French-English dictionary and tried to ask for directions back. I just could not laugh at anything in this film.

    The soundtrack is completely forgettable. I can only recall two or three songs in the entire movie, and most were during the closing credits.

    The only thing interesting in this movie is when a particular character reveals himself to the Americans. However, with the poor writing of the film, they barely go anywhere with this plot twist.

    I just can not recommend this movie. But, check it out when it is on HBO -- when you're really desperate to see a movie.
  • January 28, 2008
    Sounds great, wanna see!
  • August 1, 2007
    Why in the hell did they make this movie i mean yeah 40 year old virgin was funny but they shouldnt of made this movie i mean that one guy Romany Malco is so fuckin funny but let it go! it was an alright movie
  • September 2, 2006
    Paul Rudd is great, as usual. In this one he's a lot like his character in The Shape of Things. He and his adopted brother receive a letter stating that they've inherited a mansion in the south of France from their uncle. Some of the scenes are priceless but overall, much like...( read more) Rudd's character, it's a bit flakey.
  • June 15, 2006
    OMG what it's this movie?! HATE IT!

Critic Reviews


September 6, 2002
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

A culture-clash comedy that, in addition to being very funny, captures some of the discomfort and embarrassment of being a bumbling American in Europe. full review

August 22, 2002
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

The Chateau belongs to Rudd, whose portrait of a therapy-dependent flakeball spouting French malapropisms ... is a nonstop hoot. full review

View more The Chateau reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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