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A washed-up comedienne turns her sons into a captive audience.
In such films as Secrets & Lies (1996), Little Voice (1998), and Pride & Prejudice (2005), the wonderfully talented Brenda Blethyn has embodied various and sundry modes of pathological motherhood. Now, in the decidedly minor Australian film “Introducing the Dwights,” she strikes again, this time as a fierce yet pitiable harpy with two obsessions: reigniting her failed career as a stand-up comic and shooing potential rivals — that is, girlfriends — out of her grown-up son’s life.
At its best, which is only some of the time, Introducing the Dwights offers a pleasing, if not exactly revelatory, slice of quirkily provincial Australian life. But after a while, the bumpy alternation between boozy family meltdowns and the son’s cute, fumbling attempts at a relationship wears on the nerves. What’s left, however, is a string of performances that are never less than appealing — and one, Blethyn’s, that abounds in steely vigor.
© Style Weekly
