The Château

R

Released Aug 9, 2002

1 hr. 33 min.

Comedy

List

51%

53 Reviews

Tomatometer

30%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

The story follows brothers Graham (Paul Rudd) and Allen (Romany Malco) Granville as they make their way from America to small-town France. It appears that their mysterious great-uncle has died, bequeathing upon them an enormous chateau. Excited to sell the property and make a healthy profit, the brothers meet unexpected conflict when they arrive.

Read More

Read Less

Apple TV

Rent The Château on Apple TV, or buy it on Apple TV.

Audience Member

What in the high hell were they thinking when they made this trash. Both of the lead actors are hilarious (see 40 year old virgin), but this is a family drama about selling french real estate. Unless you just revel in family friction, I can't recommend anyone waste their time on this.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Paul Rudd adds new layers to the bumbling American stereotype, he overthinks yet is thoughtless, his harmlessness is harmful, and it's all shown through little things like flip flops and potatos. I liked it.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

It's worth a watch if you're bored just to see Paul Rudd speak hilariously bad French. The rest of the movie is odd and not particularly funny although amusingly absurd at times. It moves at a steady pace too.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

adam b

A decent, small, low-budget dramedy that could of been so, so much better. Fine performances make this work better than expected

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

same ole same ole not very funny

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

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 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.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Jesse Peretz

Director

Paul Rudd

Graham Granville

Sylvie Testud

Isabelle

Romany Malco

Allen "Rex" Granville

Didier Flamand

Jean

Nathalie Jouen

Real Estate Agent

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

60%

49%

The Independent

0%

58%

Nobody's Baby

47%

75%

Eurotrip

TRAILER

for Eurotrip

54%

69%

Rare Birds

75%

80%

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Get Your "Hostel 2" Pics Right Here

Zach Braff & Amanda Peet On the "Fast Track"

View more photos

Lou Lumenick

New York Post

Rated: 0.5/4

Jun 5, 2004

Full Review

Adam Nayman

eye WEEKLY

There are enough of the usual only-in-the-movies misunderstandings between Graham and Allen to delay any sort of resolution, but director Jesse Peretz neglects to fill the gaps with any memorably diverting action.

Rated: 2.5/5

Dec 2, 2002

Full Review

Peter Howell

Toronto Star

The new faces are interesting, but the old story isn't, especially when it starts to seem more improvised than scripted.

Rated: 2/5

Nov 29, 2002

Full Review

Film Threat

Rated: 3.5/5

Dec 6, 2005

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Jul 20, 2005

Full Review

Brandon Judell

PopcornQ

Unfunny from beginning to even after the end.

Rated: 0/5

Apr 11, 2005

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

The story follows brothers Graham (Paul Rudd) and Allen (Romany Malco) Granville as they make their way from America to small-town France. It appears that their mysterious great-uncle has died, bequeathing upon them an enormous chateau. Excited to sell the property and make a healthy profit, the brothers meet unexpected conflict when they arrive.

Director: Jesse Peretz
Distributor: IFC Films
Rating: R (Strong Language)
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 9, 2002, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 30, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $202.3K
Sound Mix: Dolby Stereo
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

Most Popular at Home Now