Strangely non-foreign, yet un-American, The Château takes uncultured Graham (Paul Rudd of Wet Hot American Summer) out of the U.S. on a journey to the south of France by force of the shared inheritance of a château with his slightly more cultured brother, Rex (Romany Malco). Rudd explores the nuances of human self-consciousness in a way that's all too realistic and, at moments, his character is painful to watch -- particularly at drunken moments or those talking with his shrink inside a phone booth mysteriously placed outside the château. Nonetheless, Rudd deserves credit, along with Malco and all the cast members, since a large portion of the final 91 minutes of the film were entirely improvised from the original script -- a mere 20 pages long. As Isabelle, Sylvie Testud is naturally enticing to both Graham and Rex, and proves to be one of the more quiet and decisive of the château's inhabitants. Malco gives Rex an intelligent, quick wit, allowing a reflective surface with which to contrast Graham's slower thoughtfulness. After truly comic beginnings (really, can these two actually be brothers?), humor gives way to psychological contemplation, much the way the French-English language barrier mysteriously yields to a more fully English resolution in the dialogue. However, the film is able to exemplify the utter strangeness of relationships, and even people, as love stories unfold and are exposed, often just in time for their demise.