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Reminiscent of Australian films like Muriel’s Wedding and Bliss, Introducing the Dwights (known outside North America by the less than fitting title, Clubland) is a flashback to the distinctive Aussie films of the 1970s and 1980s that didn’t hesitate to throw jarring characters at us and challenge us to appreciate their humanity, even amidst wacky behaviours.
Despite an overly instant pat happy ending, this is an excellent quirky comedy laced heavily with more serious moments, one that showcases the prodigious talents of Brenda Blethyn – who proves it’s possible to be a rising star (still) even after the age of 60 – and provokes us to understand and even empathize with her almost unbearable character while cheering on her character’s son (played by Khan Chittenden) as he attempts to extricate himself from her controlling clutches.
Blethyn plays Jean Dwight, a one-time rising stand-up comic whose career was derailed by family duties. She likely never would have become a big star, but she believes otherwise, shuttling as she does from her menial job as a cafeteria cook to caring for two now-grown sons and leaping at every opportunity she gets to bring her 50-plus comedy routine to local stages. Tim (Chittenden) is her passive younger son, living at home, helping his mom, and also shepherding around his older, mildly disabled brother Mark (Richard Wilson).
© Apollo Communications Ltd.
