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When Graham Granville
(Paul Rudd) and his adopted brother, Allen (Romany Malco), find out that they’ve
inherited a chateau from their long-lost great-uncle Jacques, they rush to France to
claim their inheritance. There, they find a gigantic castle with tons of back debt and
four servants who expect the new owners to take care of them. As they try to sell their
family’s chateau to someone who will take on the servants as well, both brothers fall for
Isabelle (Sylvie Testud), the beautiful young maid. And soon both Graham, the bumbling
brother, who speaks in either bad French or English with an amusing fake French accent,
and Allen, the loud, obnoxious, smooth-talking businessman, are fighting for the
perplexed maid’s attention. But neither of them knows the secret she -- and the other
servants -- are keeping from them.
The Chateau wasn’t quite as
funny as I’d hoped. The main characters can be either entertaining or irritating,
depending on how you look at it. They’re pretty much the stereotypical Americans abroad
-- the spineless idiot and the ignorant, obnoxious guy. Rudd did a good job, playing the
naïve, therapist-dependant Graham (who tries so hard). But that, I’m afraid, was
about as far as the entertainment value of this movie went for me. Though it had its
amusing moments, The Chateau was pretty disappointing. So if you’re looking for a
funny movie about France, skip this one and pick up French Kiss
instead.
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