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Cherie Nowlan pulls the emotions and entanglements of real situations and injects them into her wonderful new film Introducing The Dwights. Keith Thompson's well-drawn, keenly-observed and balanced screenplay is as much a priceless asset to the film (originally titled Clubland when it debuted at January's Sundance Film Festival) as Ms. Nowlan's assured direction is.
But as skilled as both are in crafting an entertaining comedy-drama, they owe big debts to Oscar nominee Brenda Blethyn, who superbly brings to life Jean Dwight, the head of a household consisting of Tim, her late-blooming adolescent son (Khan Chittenden) and Mark, her mentally-challenged son (Richard Watson). Jean is a celebrated British comedian and variety performer and has been a big hit for years with audiences at Clubland, in Australia.
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To add to the complications, Jean's musician and performer husband John (Frankie J. Holden - a real-life musician in Australia) is estranged from her, moonlighting as a security guard while performing his variety act. Jean's would-be admirer, great Australian performer Ronnie Stubbs (played by Philip Quast) also makes his presence felt, while Jean's manager Shane (Russell Dykstra) tries to both enliven and keep her career afloat with new gigs.
©The Popcorn Reel
