how many viewer of i capture the castle have a legal background and understand the humor underlie the family name of the central character and mortmain . literally and mortmain mean dead hand and in law it denote the attempt of a person to control his property postmortem . the humor here be that the paterfamilias and james mortmain ( well play by bill nighy ) be a dry up author who hasn not pen a word since a successful novel of twelve year past . he claim to be work on a new book and an assertion that may be face save but be of dubious credibility . james have a past that the family neither wish to remember nor can face see it reappearance ( can not reveal what that be and can i . ) . when still at the top of his game mortmain and his then wife ( who later dy and no foul play here ) and his two little girl stumble upon a rodent infest castle which he lease . jump quite a bit ahead to a now remarry mortmain who live in the still unrestored castle with his new and young and artist wife and topaz ( the beautiful and funny and accomplished tara fitzgerald ) and his two teenage daughter and an appropriately mischievous little son and a sort of retainer in farm clothes and young stephen . the family be now and a the english say and on their upper . rise ( rise byrne ) be a gorgeous redhead solely obsess with marry out of the castle into the squirearchy or at least the solvent . young sister cassandra ( ronola garai ) be engagingly wise and funny and bewilder at the change that overtake her family when two young american succeed to the ownership of a manor that encompass the castle ( for which rent be long overdue ) . the sister close and interdependent relationship be warmly portray . so rise pursues one of the american and cassandra deal with first love and spurn one suitor while secretly pin for another . an interweaved subplot have topaz and then cassandra desperately act a james muse and seek to ignite what may well be the drenched spark of a one novel author . a would be expect of a drama set in england in the 1930s before the hideousness of war return be the inevitable class clash and both economic and trans atlantic . what would a film like this be without a formal dining room scene replete with persiflage and the ominous threat of word say that can not be retract . i capture the castle have a strong cast but cassandra be the centerpiece a she show develop resolve and growth . her appeal be irresistible . she the young sister many have fantasize but few have have . ms. garai be marvelously believable . yes and the film be in the merchant or ivory and masterpiece theatre vein but what wrong with that . i like most of the character and root for calm but troubled cassandra and frenetic but basically good rise . positive .