Introducing the Dwights/Clubland

The only remedy for love is to love more.

Feature film duration 109mins

Developed and produced and funded in association with RB Films Pty Ltd, the U.K.'s Movie House Entertainment in association with Goal Post Film, Palace Films and Oz's Film Financing Corp. World Premier at the 2007 Sundance Festival, 21st January

Clubland will be distributed nationally in North America and the UK by Warner Independant Pictures.

Click here for Official Website of Clubland.
Click here for Official Warner Bro Website of Introducing the Dwights.
Cclick here to view the official trailer
Click here for Official Movie Stills.
Click here for Production Notes

What Philip Quast has to say about the film:

Reviews: Sundance

Reviews: Australia

Reviews: USA

Reviews: UK

Dwights LogoRelease Dates:

Australian Premiere: 25 February 2007, Adelaide Film Festival
General release date for Australia will be the 28th June 2007.
USA Premiere: 4 July 2007, New York & California only
General release date for the USA: 3 August 2007
UK Premier: Cambridge Film Festival 11th July 2007
UK General release date: 21st September 2007



Bit of Trivia: Seems the reason for Clubland being known as Introducing the Dwights outside Australia is due to another movie called Clubland about the club scene involving drink/drugs/sex having been released in 1999, which is available on DVD, so the distributers of the movie did not want to confuse the American film goers, into thinking the film will be similar in topic.

About the film:

Jean (Brenda Blethyn) is an English raucous stand-up comedienne, who is not only causing a stir when she entertains audiences at Sydney clubs, but who is also posing a dilemma for her 20-year-old son, who must choose between the mother who raised him on her own and his feisty new girlfriend.

Jeans more dependent than she knows on the support of her gentle son, Tim. So when Tim falls for the blunt and gorgeous Jill, Mum fears this girl could break up the act. Accustomed to being the centre of attention, she delivers award-winning performances in an attempt to keep control of her beloved son.

Crew:

Clubland logoCast:


Foreword by Geoffrey Gilmore, Sundance Festival

Every once in a while, a love story that defies your expectations comes along. Clubland director Cherie Nowlan and screenwriter Keith Thompson have created just that in this engagingly original romance that underscores the truism that there are never just two people in a family love story.

Brenda Blethyn stars as Jean Dwight, on the down slope of a career as a bawdy and risqué comedienne. Her sons, Tim and his intellectually disabled brother Mark, inhabit a household where chaos is the norm. Their father, a one-hit wonder 25 years earlier, works as a security guard and hopes for another break. And so, when Tim meets and falls for gorgeous Jill, his mum fears that this interloper will "break up" the family, and what was never exactly a stable home environment becomes a combat zone where the two women lock horns for his affections.

This Australian production is remarkably full of life, brimming with the forceful personalities of a cast of characters who never stop surprising. Artfully directed and driven by powerhouse performances from Blethyn and her equally potent antagonist Emma Booth, Clubland is a rare blend of dramatic and comic sensibility and skill. That Tim feels compelled to declare his darkest secret to Jill in an intimate moment--his parents are entertainers--says it all.

Philip and Brenda

What Philip Quast has to say about the film:

I think Brenda is fantastic, I've admired her for long and ironically she lives around the corner from me in London, So I thought it would be lovely opportunity to be part of a lovely team. And I really think the script is rather interesting: I read it and was quite touched by it, it is a wonderful exploration of the difficulties of young love, they struggle, they take their time, and to watch the two of them take the time to build a relationship is wonderful. I find that the core of the film.

Reviews: Sundance

FirstShowing.net Sundance Review: Clubland

by Alex Billington, 23rd January 2007. 9/10 rating

Clubland is an Australian feature that is a whimsical, fast paced (but not too fast), never dull, funky and exciting romantic drama. A teen-aged boy, Tim (Khan Chittenden), who lives with his comedian entertainer mother (Brenda Blethyn) and mentally-challenged brother (Richard Wilson) meets a cute young girl (Emma Booth) and falls in love with her, all while struggling with his own sexuality and family matters. It's a delightful love story as good as The Science of Sleep, with as much great comedy, content, romance, and drama to be compared to Science of Sleeps’ excellence.

What's so great about Clubland is that I can sit through this 108 minute movie and not ever experience a dull moment - a rarity and certainly fantastic experience that is appreciated. Director Cherie Nowlan never takes it too far or too short, it's always right on target in every scene. Also featuring an entourage cast with truly exquisite performances all around from a handful of Australian actors. It comes down to an incredible “showdown” involving everyone from Tim's family at his house at the end, where his mother breaks down and the conclusion builds up. All around an exhilarating romance that needs to make its way across the ocean to America where it'll become instantly cherished - and it just did, as it was bought by Warner Independent! One of my own personal favorite films from Sundance so far!

Clubland (10 out of 10)

Review by John Brahman, Sundance Authorized, 23 Janaury 2007

Everything about this film is magical but nothing is a magical as Brenda Blethyn's performance as second rate comedienne Jean Dwight. It is another tour de force and it's about time the critics start paying attention to her as one of the greatest actresses of the stage and screen. I think she was actually too good in Secrets and Lies. She disappeared so completely into her role that I think people didn't realize she was acting, and so never gave her her props for the astounding character she created.

I was lucky enough to see Blethyn in 'Night Mother last year on Broadway where she pretty much blew Edie Falco off the stage and now was lucky enough to see the premiere of this Oscar worthy performance in Clubland. Wow is all I can say to her finely crafted and multifaceted portrayal of a self centered and iron willed hack-with-a-heart-of-gold. Her smothering mothering is spot on and she anchors this film as no other actress could.

It was written with her in mind and lucky for the filmmakers she agreed to take the role. Thank you Brenda for this gift of a performance. May everyone take notice. Surrounding Blethyn's "sun" are other bright orbiting planets. Khan Chittenden does a great job as the dutiful yet rebellious son, Richard Wilson as his physically but in no way mentally challenged brother has unbelievably accurate comedic timing. Emma Booth is so very endearing as the self effacing "modern girl" Jill. There isn't a weak link in the film. Not in the writing or the perfectly paced direction. Not in the performances. Not in the cinematography. This is a must see film and I defy anyone not to enjoy the experience.

Moviehole at Sundance Review: Clubland

by Clint Morris, 22 Janaury 2007. 9/10 rating

The Australian film Clubland, enjoying its world premiere here at Sundance, is a film to cheer about, and once again proves that Brenda Blethyn is of the great and brave actresses of her generation. Blethyn stars as a boozy, bawdy, overprotective mother, Jean, once a nightclub and TV performer in England a quarter of a century ago. Now in Sydney’s Western suburbs, divorced from the ex-singer who brought her to Australia two decades ago, she still performs her crass act in work class clubs on the weekend, while making chips and breakfasts in a canteen. Desperately clinging onto her past so-called glories, she smothers her two sons, one the mentally challenged Mark [a tour-de-force performance by Richard Wilson] and his 20-year old brother Tim [Khan Chittenden]. It is Tim’s growing relationship with the beautiful and assertive Jill [Emma Booth] that threatens to drive a wedge between himself and a mother desperately afraid of growing old and being alone, while Tim’s journey from sexual awkwardness evolves into his own journey of independence.

It is no surprise that the applause greeted at the conclusion of Clubland was raucous and enthusiastic. Smartly written by the talented Keith Thompson and directed energetically, with style and eloquence by the extraordinary Cherie Nowlan [Thank God He Met Lizzie], Clubland is both very Australian in tone and vernacular yet universal in its comment on coming to terms with your past and growing older. Blethyn is simply magnificent here, vulnerable, pathetic and tragic in many ways, yet so human as she finally accepts what life has in store for her. Her final scene, singing a duet with legendary Australian rocker/actor Frankie J. Holden is alone worth the price of admission. Holden, by the way, is wonderful. Emma Booth is a find and a half as the beautiful and passionate Jill and Khan Chittenden is charmingly naïve as Tim.

A boisterous, irreverent and visually striking Australian film, Clubland is a truly special piece of cinema that is destined for commercial longevity, both in its native Australia and the world.

Reviews: Australia

Clubland (Introducing the Dwights)

by Stuart, Hoopla.NU, 30 June 2007. (4 stars)

2007 may be a slow year for Australian cinema, but it's also a strong one. Clubland appears on our screens after the almost perfect Noise and solid yet pedestrian Romulus, My Father, and outdoes both in its great mix of drama and bawdy humour.

The film that did so well at Sundance has great audience potential insofar as the young romance might attract teen and upwards viewers whilst Brenda Blethyn is likely to rope in older, more discerning viewers. Jean (Blethyn) is a has-been stand up comedian. Where once her career was on the rise in her native England, the arrival of two sons effectively put an end to that. She now works long hours in a canteen and does gigs in pokie venues at night. Khan Chittenden plays her long-suffering son Tim who does his best to taxi her round and effectively assume responsibilities left by his absent father. When he meets the beautiful Jill (Emma Booth), his priorities are suddenly rearranged, much to the chagrin of Jean.

Blethyn is stunning as the over the top matriarch who doesn't know when to stop. Jean's comedy routines are a mix of embarrassing 'Carry On' innuendoes and some genuinely clever humour. Whilst Blethyn has seemed to take over our screens in the last decade or so, she's at her most impressive here. A thoroughly unabashed performance, she really does push the rest of the cast. Chittenden is great as the somewhat inexperienced and shy Tim, and the frank, fumbling sex scenes between him and Jill are brilliantly awkward. Emma Booth - soon to be a regular face in Hollywood, I'm sure - is fantastic. Her performance is so impressive that the thought of her doing generic big budget films in the States is rather depressing. Hopefully she can sidestep the incoming tide of offers and stick to the really challenging stuff.

Veteran Australian television writer Keith Thompson has crafted a beautiful screenplay that never gets too schmalzy or clichéd. He seems perfectly at home whether writing for characters in their early 20s or parents pushing 60. There are only minor gaps to be found - it's hard to see quite why Jill puts up with the contradictory Tim and his terrifying mother, and whilst never quite disrespectful, too many jokes are at the expense of the intellectually disabled brother Mark.

Clubland's title has been changed to Introducing the Dwights for the US release, but neither is really worthy of the film. Directed superbly by Cherie Nowlan, who years ago introduced us to Cate Blanchett in Thank God He Met Lizzie, this is a strong yet simple film that can boast some brilliant performances from veterans like Frankie J. Holden, Phillip Quast and Blethyn as well as newcomers Chittenden and Booth.

Thanks to Josh for providing us with information on review.

Clubland (Aka: Introducing The Dwights)

Review by Sean Lynch, Web Wombat, 30 June 2007. (4 stars)

Ok, I'll get this out of the way early. I hated Muriels Wedding. And I hated Priscilla and Strictly Ballroom!

There, I've said it, it's out there - do with it what you will. But it's time to face facts. Wacky Australian flicks are terrible, and are an embarrassment to our country.

So it's with great pleasure to discover that our most recent export, Clubland (or Introducing The Dwights as it will be known in the USA) is almost as perfectly an accurate depiction of Australian life as you are to find on the big screen. It's a near perfect gem.

The flick follows Jeannie Dwight (the ever so screechy voiced Brenda Blethyn) - loving mother, divorcee, canteen lady and on the road to a comeback on the club comedy circuit. Her ex-husband John (Frankie J Holden) is staging a comeback of his own, hoping to regain his title of Number One in the Country charts which last occurred in 1975.

With parents like these and a brother suffering from cerebral palsy (played to perfection by youngster Richard Wilson), it's not surprising that life's not always smooth sailing for 21-year-old Tim who is shy, lives at home, and is a disaster with women.

Enter the beautiful and feisty Jill who walks into Tim's life - but there is another woman in Tim's life, one who will stand between him and the perfect romance...his mother!

The story is simple enough, and never gets bogged down in bizarre and 'ocker' stereotypes that even our best Aussie film exports seem to do (if anything, it shares more common traits with the likes of Little Miss Sunshine). And that's where the real strength lies with Clubland, which recently made history after being picked up by Warner Independent for $4 million at the Sundance Film Festival - as well as becoming the first Australian film ever to receive a July 4th release in the USA.

The cast, too, are fantastic. While lead's Brenda Blethyn and Khan Chittenden seem to work against the film on occasion, they do deliver quite solid efforts. However, it is the support cast that really makes Clubland shine. They are nothing short of astounding.

Emma Booth (who plays Tim's love interest) is an absolute find. Not only is she utterly gorgeous - but the depth of her performance shows glimpses of Rose Byrne (who, in my opinion, is one of the most likable Aussie actresses to have ever graced our screens).

Frankie J Holden is superb, delivering a performance that is both likable, funny and empathetic. However, the real star of the film is without doubt that of Richard Wilson's portrayal of Tim's disabled brother Mark. It's a superbly executed performance that delivers some of the biggest laughs of the film, without ever taking the low road of exploiting Mark's disability.

Sure, the flick lacks some pace and slick editing throughout the first act, but the film still travels along - and will rarely (if ever) leave you wondering or caring if it will end. There are some superb "Ocsar Clips" during the climax, with the awkward interplay between Blethlyn and Booth fantastic, and you will struggle to find a dissatisfied viewer leaving the cinema.

Yet another addition to the re-emergence of quality, relateable and enjoyable Australian cinema. Let's hope this is just the beginning...

Thanks to Josh for providing us with information on review.

CLUBLAND

by Stan James, The Advertiser, 30 June 2007, Australia (4 Stars)

Showbiz mum returning to the stage finds angst in her disjointed family.

Dysfunctional families have been a rich vein for movies around the world.

Australia's dabbling into the scene has had mixed results.

In recent times, Ray Lawrence's Lantana was one of the most successful in its style, theme, artistic and box-office success. Last year, his Jindabyne was not as successful but it was a gallant, complex and rewarding effort.

But director Cherie Nolan and writer Keith Thompson have hit the jackpot with their perceptive and bittersweet account of an ambitious British mother trying to resurrect her showbiz career 25 years after marrying an Aussie singer and raising two sons.

It's a role Brenda Blethyn was born to play (as she was with Mike Leigh's Secrets and Lies) and she relishes every crisp line, twist and emotional peg on which her character continually stumps her toe.

Thompson wrote it with Blethyn in mind and she commands the screen with a characterisation of immense complexity combining her ambition, resentment and mother love. She is given wonderful support from three young Australian actors, Khan Chittenden, Emma Booth and Richard Wilson.

Chittenden has the vital role of Jean's virginal, shy, 21-year-old son, Tim, of whom Jean is most protective. Wilson is Tim's disabled brother, Mark, and Booth is Jill, the forthright girl who challenges Jean for Tim's love and affection.

Jean has divorced John (Frankie J. Holden), now a security guard also seeking a return to fame as a country-music singer. When Jean married him she was on the way up as a comedian in Britain.

She works in a cafeteria but at night does stand-up comedy in clubs with a saucy style of nudge-nudge, wink-wink dated comedy.

The story is a three-hander with Jean's ambition clashing with her mother love, Tim's confusion and reluctance to commit with sexually forward Jill, and Mark's struggle to find another love than his mother's, and aware of his mental Limitations.

The cross pollination of these characters, with a terrific turn by Holden, as John, melds into a bitter-sweet story often warmly humorous and touching and tinged with a reality that can be understood and shared. "Apology solves everything, even if you're not wrong," he tells Tim.

Premiered at this year's Adelaide Film Festival, it is one of several Australian films about to be released. A mini-renaissance which reflects wonderful slices of life about who we are and our motivations.

Thanks to Josh for providing us with review.

Clubland

by Nicola Harrison, ABC Nightlife (4 stars)

Brenda Blethyn is one of those actors who radiates warmth. Not actressey. Not pretentious. Not stagey – just real. Her crackling personality lights up the screen in the new Australian black comedy Clubland by Cherie Nowlan (Thank God He Met Lizzie).

It's the story of Jean (Blethyn),a mother of two, divorcee and cabaret performer whose relentlessly bawdy act has seen better days. Doing the rounds of Sydney's shabbier RSL clubs, she's only getting only scant recognition from the audience, which is an ongoing bruising to her ego. She had a taste of fame in England in the 1970s when her coquettish take on Benny Hill was more in fashion. Poor Jean is quite bemused she can't work the room these days with her shrill jokes about men and their members.

Khan Chittenden plays 21-year old Tim, her adored first-born son. He helps her look after her mildly intellectually disabled second son Mark (a tour de force performance from young Australian actor Richard Wilson), he drives her to gigs on the outer fringes of the city, and he generally acts as her reason for being. Jean needs Tim in her life a little too much, and this works when Tim can give Jean all his attention. But then when he meets the beautiful Jill (Emma Booth) and starts spending a lot of time with her learning about sex and love, Jean can hardly stand it.

Blethyn's raucous, mother-meets-lioness is the heart of the film. Jean is a gloriously written character in that at some times she's truly lovable and at others she's unbearably narcissistic and toxic. She's the kind of three-dimensional, flawed and real mother character we don't often see on the big screen. Frankie J Holden is also a delight as her ex husband John, the father of Tim and Mark, and a down on his luck country singer. Like Jean, he had his moment of glory. But since that one hit things have been tough and he’s working as a supermarket security guard but still living the dream he just might crack the big time again. Rebecca Gibney also appears as Lana, Jean's rough as bags hard-partying friend, and we're so used to seeing her as the controlled ice queen that it’s very funny to see her in this role. Clever casting is a Cherie Nowlan trademark; after all, she put Cate Blanchett in Thank God He Met Lizzie long before she was famous.

Although Clubland has the suburban themes many Australian comedies share, there’s a darker undertone which makes it really interesting. It's a telling parable about the fact that as a parent there really is a time to let go – even if the apron strings have to be severed with an axe.

Thanks to Josh for providing us with information on review.

Join the Club

by Vicki Roach, The Daily Telegraph, Australia 28 June 2007. (3.5 Stars)

Clubland is essentially a love triangle involving a boy, a girl and his mother. Like many single parents, Jean Dwight (Brenda Blethyn) is unusually close to her 21 year old son Tim (Khan Chittenden).

Adding a certain theatrical tension to their relationship is her emotionally volatile choice of profession, a cafeteria worker by day, she lives her nights as a comedienne on the RSL circuit.

In her prime, the expatriate Englishwoman worked with some of the great TV comedians, Tommy Cooper, Tony Hancock and the like.

Nowdays, her star has faded dramatically, but her Phyllis Diller style domestic routines still land her the occasional weekend Mum and Dad gig.

Jean relies on Tim for both transport, he has a fledgling removal business and emotional support.

Further binding the pair together is Jean's intellectually and physically disabled son Mark (Richard Wilson), who takes on the role of wise fool.

Hovering over the sidelines, just out of firing range, is Jean's ex -husband (Frankie J. Holden).

While John isn't exactly an absent father, the bitterness of the couple's divorce, combined with the fact that Jean blames the country crooner-turned supermarket security guard for the early demise of her career, means he giver the former family home a wide berth.

Rebecca Bibney is almost unrecognisable as Jean's blowsy friend and workmate Lana.

When Time meets Jill (Emma Booth), the delicate balance of dysfunctional Dwight family is upset dramatically.

Jill, a fabulously forthright young woman, is able to see past Tim's excruciating in articulateness, perhaps becuase he's such a hunk. But will she survive his increasingly monstrous mother? Threatened by the prospect of being supplanted in her son's affections by this young slip of a girl, Jean sinks to new depths in terms of emotional manipulation and psychological blackmail.

Clubland starts out like one of those briad working-class comedies, populated by larger- than- life Aussie characters of which of us now had our fill. But the film is underpinned by authentic appreciation of the ordinary and an everyday sense of pathos.

The scene in which john plays his new demo tape for his son on a ghetto blaster in the supermarket car-park, for instance, is genuinely touching, and Jean's humiliation at the hands of a bunch of hip young club owners cuts to the quick.

At times, Mark feels like a plot device rather than a genuine character, but the way in which he tethers the family to their personal insecurities rings true. Clubland's naturalistic treatment of first love, which is portrayed here in all its awkward fumbling and adolescent insecurities rather than with the benefit of some nostalgic hindsight, also stands out.

A far from average family drama with dark and wicked sense of humour.

Thanks to Josh for providing us with review.

CLUBLAND

by: Matthew Toomey, The Family Pie, 28 June 2007, (B+)

Despite the fact that we’ve made some very good films over the past two years, Australian made flicks have struggled at the box-office. Audiences would much rather see a clichéd Hollywood blockbuster than take a chance on a small home-grown movie with great reviews.

Clubland is the latest Aussie release to hit the marketplace and the early indications are promising. It’s being released in a number of large cinemas across the country (as opposed to just the smaller independent ones) and it’s received some good publicity. Star Brenda Blethyn, a two-time Academy Award nominee, recently attended a special advance screening here in Brisbane to help promote it.

The story centres on a 20-year-old named Tim (Chittenden) who lives at home with his mother, Jean (Blethyn), and his younger brother, Mark (Wilson). To say that Tim has lived a sheltered life would be an understatement. Jean has kept a very tight reign over her son and she isn’t prepared to let go.

Everything changes with the arrival of Jill (Booth), a girl who Tim meets whilst out working as a removalist. The pair go on a date and soon enough, they’re boyfriend and girlfriend. As you’d expect, this doesn’t go down well with Jean. She’s always been the most important woman in Tim’s life and now that things have changed, it’s not easy. Confrontation ensues and Tim finds himself picking up the pieces.

Clubland is a crowd pleasing movie. Audiences will find humour in the story and will be able to relate to its characters. If I have one criticism, it’s that the acting is a little over the top at times. Jean’s obsessiveness and Tim’s naivety are just too hard to believe. Are people actually like this or is it being dramatised for effect by writer Keith Thompson? The most interesting character for me was Tim’s girlfriend (played very well by Emma Booth). She had some deep seeded insecurities which I wish were explored further.

Those who regularly attend RSL clubs will probably be interested by the film’s setting. Jean is a part-time comedian and performs at a bunch of RSL clubs across Sydney. She loves being in front of a crowd. As a sub-plot in the film, Jean hires a new agent with the hope of landing some bigger gigs.

English actress Brenda Blethyn is the star of the film but there are a few familiar Aussies who make an appearance. Frankie J. Holden as Tim’s father and Rebecca Gibney as Jean’s best friend are both great. Richard Wilson, who had the lead in 48 Shades, is almost unrecognisable as Tim’s intellectually disabled brother.

It’s probably not the best Australian film of the year but it’s definitely worth a look.

Thanks to Josh for providing us with information on review.

Clubland

by Des Partridge, The Courier Mail, 28 June 2007 (3.5 stars)

Jean Dwight is a raunchy homemaker, cafeteria worker, mother of two and, since her split from her country music singing husband, in demand on the Sydney RSL comedy circuit. When her elder son, Tim, meets and falls in love with the beautiful and feisty Jill, Jean sees her tightly constructed world starting to crumble around her and the battle lines are drawn between mother and girlfriend.

Writer Keith Thompson (an Englishman now settled in Sydney) had the British character actress and two-times Oscar nominee Brenda Blethyn in mind when he wrote the central role of Jean Dwight about 15 years ago.

Blethyn stood by the project after accepting the role more than five years ago – and had to wait for finance to be arranged to make the film.

Here as Jean, the Secrets and Lies star is a former British stand-up comic (who we learn has appeared with talents such as Tommy Cooper and Morecambe and Wise). She's sacrificed her career to settle in Sydney with her Aussie husband John (Frankie J. Holden), a "one hit wonder" singer who now works as a store security officer.

He's divorced from the middle-aged Jean, who lives with her two almost grown-up sons, Tim (Khan Chittenden), and Mark (Richard Wilson), who was brain damaged at birth.

Despite her mature age, the feisty Jean – whose primary job is in a factory canteen kitchen – is trying to get her interrupted show business career back on track.

Her routines are drawn from her unhappy marriage, and consist of jokes about men and their failings (most of them gags Blethyn herself wrote during filming), and fashioning phallic symbols out of sausage balloons as visual gags.

Jean's life becomes complicated when Tim – who she's helped finance a small truck so he can operate his own truck rental service – meets Jill (Emma Booth), who is more experienced in sexual matters than the shy and hesitant Tim.

Initially, Tim, who has recently had a broken romance, keeps his new love interest to himself, and also takes a long time to summon up the courage to confess to Jill that his parents are – um, entertainers. When Jill finally meets Jean, a tug-of-love develops between mother and the new girlfriend, more worldly than Tim. Pressure in the family mounts when Jean gets a chance to spotlight her comedy talent for a major entrepreneur at a charity benefit, and she makes no secret of her resentment towards Jill and the way she's dominating Tim's attention.

Jean's angst about her impending audition and her situation dominates the story more than Tim and Jill's romance, although their sexual connection is handled maturely.

Issues have to be sorted before the feel-good finish, mixing tears with laughter, that writer Thompson finds for his domestic dilemma.

It's not pleasant to imagine director Cherie Nowlan's film (her first feature since 1997's Thank God, He Met Lizzie) without the anchoring performance the ebullient Blethyn turns in.

Even when she's cracking vulgarities about male genitalia from a Sydney club stage, Blethyn's star presence shines in a tour de force performance.

Blethyn's work helps keep the film on track despite some lumpy script moments.

I had a sense of unease watching young actor Wilson (who featured in the Brisbane-made 48 Shades last year) playing the damaged Mark, and it proved easier to appreciate the work by Frankie J. Holden (seen all too briefly), Philip Quast as the oily agent Ronnie Stubbs, and Russell Dykstra as Jean's manager.

Rebecca Gibney has the smallest of roles as Jean's boozy friend, and Katie Wall stands out in her scenes as Jill's friend Kelly.

The club settings, with cameo appearances by a range of genuine club entertainers, including the celebrated whistling wonder Ronnie Ronalde and ventriloquist Darren Carr, add veracity to the story.

But it's Blethyn's performance you'll most likely remember after a rousing finish with Blethyn and Holden teamed for their version of Tina Turner's Nutbush City Limits on stage.

Thanks to Josh for providing us with information on review.

Clubland: D.H. Lawrence meets A.V. Jennings in this tribute to suburban showbiz.

by Paul Byrnes, Sydney Morning Herald, June 23, 2007. (4 Star)

The clublands of the title are in the outer rim of Sydney's rugby league belt, places like Penrith Panthers and the Cronulla Sharks Leagues club, where working people go for good, honest, budget-priced entertainment. Instead, they get Jean Dwight (the English actress Brenda Blethyn), whose stand-up comedy routine is a form of revenge - a spikey patter of harsh jokes about sex and genitalia and why all men are bastards. She specialises in put-downs delivered with that cool, forced smile that Blethyn has made one of her trademarks.

Jean is a disappointed woman in all aspects of her life. She was once a rising star of English comedy, sharing the stage with the likes of Morecambe and Wise and Tommy Cooper. Then she fell in love with an Australian country singer who had a hit in the UK - his only one, as it turned out. John Maitland (Frankie J. Holden) persuaded her to come to Australia, they had two boys, one of whom was brain damaged at birth, the marriage dissolved, leaving her in a hideous suburban house, unable to drive and with her best years behind her. You bet she's bitter, although Blethyn's task here, which she does well, is to keep her from becoming the complete harpy. She does it by giving Jean some vulnerability and warmth and by making her a battler.

It's the kind of role Blethyn loves to play - working class, mouthy, a Valium short of hysterical but somehow indomitable. Not as beaten down as the mother in Secrets and Lies, nor as horrible as the one in Little Voice, but with elements of both and a bit more mental toughness.

Jean rises at 5.30am and serves in a factory canteen full of men who grew up when meat was cheap, as Phil Kearns likes to say. She rides the bus to work listening to tapes of her own routines, which still make her chuckle. She loves rock'n'roll and a full glass and she loves her boys - Tim (Khan Chittenden) and Mark (Richard Wilson) - with the ferocity of a lioness. The house, with a loud stereo, an above-ground pool and a full bar, is her fortress and her lair, and she can see trouble coming up the drive before it sees her.

The boys, now aged about 18 and 20, know that they are her reason to get out of bed in the morning. Mark, whose brain damage effects his movements and speech more than his intellect, is too timid to go far. Tim, who drives a removal van that his mum helped buy, is desperate for some space, and a girlfriend. Clubland is about what happens when he finds one - the gorgeous, willowy, sensitive and funny Jill (Emma Booth), who takes him in her arms and kisses him with such sensuality that he's paralysed with fear. Jill is the young woman that Jean has been dreading - the one who'll take her cub away.

The script, by veteran script doctor and TV writer Keith Thompson, is very funny but unpredictable and a bit messy. That's not really a criticism, because the messiness makes the film more lifelike and dramatic. It has many layers of emotion, some of which clash. Some writers would try to smooth these over but they help to keep the tone raw and damaging.

Keith Thompson was born in Dover in England, where his mother played in dance bands. He grew up sitting beside the piano in working-class clubs, so the film is his tribute to the spirit of all entertainers, especially those who never make it big. (In this respect, Frankie J. Holden delivers another superb performance as the father, a security guard making his comeback with a self-funded CD, a tribute to Conway Twitty.) As Australia became more middle class in the '90s, a lot of our allegedly quirky comedies took a superior position about the working classes. But not this one.

Beyond this tribute to show business, Clubland is about the difficult and sticky bonds between mothers and sons. This produces a lot of the comedy and most of the pain, with director Cherie Nowlan ( Thank God He Met Lizzie) keeping these two things in delicate balance. It's not really a knee-slapping kind of film, or only rarely. More like a version of Sons and Lovers set in a western Sydney brick bungalow. D.H. Lawrence meets A.V. Jennings.

The most surprising thing about the movie is its frank sexuality and the joy with which the relationship is shown. To say this is rare in our cinema is an understatement. We hardly ever do sex and intimacy in a way that is calculated to excite audiences, without it becoming traumatic or embarrassing.

Clubland achieves that sexiness with two performers who are unafraid. Neither Khan Chittenden nor Emma Booth is well-known yet but their performances make the movie. They capture perfectly the heat and desire of first love. That ensures that the contest between Jill and Jean for the heart of this shy boy becomes real and more gripping. Jill may be only 19 or so but she's the only one in the movie who's not afraid of Jean the Impaler.

Clubland Packs a Full House

by Tim Milfull, Media & Culture, 20 June 2007

ean Dwight is the mother from hell. Once an up-and-coming comedienne back in the old country, she has a sharp and biting wit that rips most foes to shreds. Her next target happens to be her son’s feisty new girl friend; but this mother isn’t about to let her son go falling into the arms of another woman without a fight. By the end of the bitter-sweet comedic Aussie flick Clubland, you can’t help but fall in love with this formidable woman. Jean is full of so many paradoxes, but deep down she’s really a loveable hag.

Jean (played to perfection by British actress Brenda Blethyn) is on the other side of fifty and searching for a comeback as a comedienne on the club circuit. This entails her 21-year-old son Tim (Khan Chittenden) driving her in his removal truck to different evening gigs in retro-looking clubs across Sydney. He’s happy to help his mother’s in her quest for stardom. At home, Jean’s older, mentally-challenged son Mark (Richard Wilson), spends most of his time housebound after various disappearing acts. Both boys have little life of their own as their mother’s overpowering personality smothers their more awkward and shy personalities. Yet, the love of Jean’s life is her two sons. It is her foundation and purpose. Imagine her turmoil then, when Tim literally stumbles into a relationship with the assertive and world-wise Jill (Emma Booth).

Jean’s comeback is put on hold as Tim’s attention is split between the two women. What follows is a classic clash of the titans as Jill becomes the wedge that threatens to tear this maternal bond apart. Tim even warns Jill, ‘You know my parents... Well, they’re entertainers’. What follows is cruel, yet fiendishly funny, as Jean keeps referring to Jill as one of Tim’s past girlfriends Samantha, or continuously shoots Jill down with snide remarks. The younger woman stands no chance and finds her grip on Tim loosening. Things finally come to a head when Jean, in a drunken rage, threatens to move back to England. Jill retorts, ‘Get me the Yellow Pages and I’ll find her a budget airfare!’ Jean’s ex-husband John (Frankie J. Holden) turns up at the house trying to calm the situation, only to escalate the fiasco as furniture flies across the room. But when Jean’s emotional blackmail fails to win Tim back, she realises Jill has won her son’s heart. ‘I love Jill, I want to be with her all the time, I want to have sex with her all the time’ exclaims Tim with brutal honesty.

There are so many layers to this flim. There is the physical intimacy between the two young lovers Tim and Jill, a coming-of-age told through sexual exploration; quite explicit in parts. Then there is Jean at the other end of the spectrum, still holding onto the past. Even her home has a dour sixties flavour to it, with the colours given a ‘washed out’ look. This is a woman who put her career on hold for her sons and is now trying to recapture a heyday where she once commanded the crowd.

Clubland easily could have become a set of well-worn caricatures, but Brenda Blethyn is one charismatic leading lady. We can’t help but be drawn under the spell of her continual transformations. One moment she can be crude and crass with sexual innuendos in her performances: ‘Women with big husbands... it’s hard you know, because it’s like a cupboard falling on top of you with the key still stuck in the door’. Then the layers begin to peel back as we peeps into the dark shadows of the private life of a comedian and see vulnerability bubbling to the surface. It was important for Blethyn ‘to make Jean likable…and able to redeem herself’. Sure she’s a pain in the arse, but at the same time she’s hilarious. Blethyn holds the seams of this story together with a powerful performance that can sometimes dwarf the younger actors. This is not to say they don’t hold their ground, but Blethyn is in a class of her own.

Clubland has a sense of Australian maturity where, unlike Strictly Ballroom (1992) the actors are not overwhelmed by the visuals, or Muriel’s Wedding (1994) where the focus was on the ‘ugly’ aspect of Australian life. Clubland is ‘not a film about ugly people in an ugly world, the people are really warm’. Aussie humour is still peppered throughout, ensuring we take the piss out of ourselves. Keep an ear out for Mark’s clever one-liners. Clubland proves Australian films are still viable in a film industry saturated with American product. Films like Clubland offer an important opportunity to tell Australian stories about who we are, where we come from and where we are heading.

Clubland

by Colin Fraser, Moviereview, June 2007. (3+ rating)

Cherie Nowlan’s first feature since Thank God He Met Lizzie (1997) is the kind of well-crafted film that makes you wonder when she’s been this past decade. A comic-drama about a twenty-one year old virgin and his impossible family, Clubland has the requisite humour, pathos, drama and chaos to please audiences and critics alike. Tim (Chittenden) is the glue that holds this coming-of-age-tale-with-a-twist together, but he’s not the one growing up. It’s his overwhelming mother Jean (Blethyn) who has a thing or two to learn.

Tim’s parent’s are entertainers, or at least they were sometime in the mid-70’s. These days they’re divorced; Tim’s dad is a supermarket security guard, his mother works in a factory canteen. But every now and then she gets to tread the boards and remind herself of what could have been before she gave up English stardom for an Australian love affair and its by-product, their disabled son Mark. All of which Tim could cope with blindfolded, if only she would let him get over the hump (metaphorically speaking) of his first serious romance.

Nowlan’s assured direction turns this from simple, cheery entertainment into something altogether more thoughtful. She’s helped considerably by Chittenden’s easy, innocent presence and Blethyn’s cock-eyed hysteria. Emma Booth is on the money as Tim’s girlfriend, terrified by his mother’s increasingly monstrous behaviour. Rounding out the film is Keith Thompson’s script that doesn’t fill in all the gaps, leaving bits of back-story to hang in realistic, tantalising ways – like ‘the Seaworld episode’ which no one wants to revisit. As Jean fights the reality of her sons’ impending maturity, Thompson builds the drama from within to create a credible series of escalating, heartbreakingly funny events. And then the payoff, for what would rom-com be without an upbeat ending? And this Nowlan delivers in clubs.

Reviews: USA

'The Dwights' are one family you're glad to have met

Ruthe Stein, Senior Movie Writer, San Francisco Chronicle, Friday, July 13, 2007

Jean Dwight, a once-almost-famous comedian attempting a comeback with an antiquated Phyllis Diller-like act, is the kind of outsize character who could easily overwhelm everyone and everything else in a movie. Among the many strengths of the sweetly touching "Introducing the Dwights," a small gem from Australia unearthed at the Sundance Film Festival, is that Jean never becomes Godzilla.

One reason is an exceptionally rich script chock-full of complex subplots involving the other Dwights; you're not only introduced to them but also start to feel like part of the family. Another is Brenda Blethyn's carefully calibrated performance, one of her finest, a high compliment considering this two-time Oscar nominee's career.

Blethyn is the antithesis of a scene stealer, holding back even when Jean performs stand-up at second-rate clubs in Sydney reminiscent of those off the Vegas strip. Her tentativeness seems natural for someone who hasn't been onstage in a couple of decades. Blethyn generously allows her co-stars time in the spotlight, even as she plays a frustrated woman whose longing to be in the spotlight is at the core of her very being.

At home, Jean is always on, playing to an audience consisting of sons Tim (rising Australian actor Khan Chittenden), a furniture mover on the cusp of adulthood, and Mark (Richard Wilson), whose mental disability hasn't impaired his sense of humor. The house looks as if it needs a thorough dusting, but with Jean working three jobs to keep the family solvent, there's no time for sprucing up. Dad, who had a hit single in 1975, no longer lives there but occasionally corrals his kids to talk about reviving his career (making you wonder if Noel Coward should have amended his famous line about daughters to "Don't Put Your Parents on the Stage'').

Veteran Australian screenwriter Keith Thompson throws us the best kind of curve by not immediately signaling what the film is about. You think it will be Jean's second chance. Her agent envisions her becoming a gay icon with her male-bashing jokes ("Having sex with a big bloke is like having a wardrobe fall on you''). Jean's beaded jackets are as retro as the act.

But then unexpectedly it switches over to Tim, who meets the adorable Jill (the adorable Emma Booth) while packing her belongings into a van. Chittenden and Booth endearingly portray a couple in the early days of a romance, you fall in love with them falling in love.

Thompson and director Cherie Nowlan smartly establish how right Jill is for Tim before his mom meets her and instantly decides otherwise. Giving the young woman the once-over, Blethyn communicates jealousy on the scale of Othello. To make matters worse, Jill wins over Mark as well, blithely ignoring the disability that keeps him tied to Jean. She wants her boys within listening distance, and sees the girlfriend as the threat she is.

But Blethyn's mom isn't a monster. Her love for her children is palpable, even when she blames Mark to his face for ending the career she fantasizes would have been hers.

Nowlan sustains a mood somewhere between sweet and bittersweet. The Dwights are a highly functional dysfunctional family, and, as the story progresses, you see there's nothing they wouldn't do for one another. Tim and Mark buoy up their mother when she blows an important audition, her anger at men spewing out in a way that is definitely not funny. Tim is protective of his brother, but never embarrassed by him. Wilson deserves special mention for the humanity he brings to Mark. It's a difficult role to play without appearing to plead for the audience's sympathy. There's none of that in Wilson's unself-conscious performance.

Ultimately this wondrous film is about letting go -- of old wardrobes, bad jokes, unrealistic dreams and of children and parental ties. You leave glad to have met the Dwights and applauding their adaptability, if not Mom's jokes.

'Dwights' a family of funny miseries Mother tries to break out as comedienne

by Kelly Jane Torrance The Washing Times, July 13, 2007. (3 stars)

Let me introduce you to the Dwights, film's latest hilariously dysfunctional family:

Mother Jean (Brenda Blethyn) spends her days working at a canteen, her nights working the club circuit as a stand-up comedienne. Jean had a bit of fame a few decades ago and believes that if it worked once, it'll work again.

Her son Tim (Khan Chittenden) is embarrassed by his mom's racy act and is reluctant to introduce her to his hot new girlfriend, Jill (Emma Booth).

Thanks to Jean's overbearing single mothering, Tim is 20 going on 15. He can't spend the evening at Jill's place without checking in with his mother, putting the insecure Jill on edge.

Adding to the strain is Tim's brother, Mark (Richard Wilson). He was brain damaged at birth but has enough smarts to know that Tim's romance means he's stuck spending more time with Jean as she vainly tries to resurrect her career.

The boys get little help from their father (Frankie J. Holden). He's rather busy with his gig as a retail security guard and his new album, "John Maitland Sings the Songs of Conway Twitty."

Although it is an Australian film with a British star (Miss Blethyn), "Introducing the Dwights" has a lot in common with last summer's indie hit about a family of eccentrics, "Little Miss Sunshine." One relatively normal member of the family — in "Sunshine" was mom Sheryl. Here it's Tim who tries to hold the sometimes-warring factions together — at first with delicate tact, then, when that fails, with screaming and all-out guilt-tripping.

Jean is as clueless as Greg Kinnear's Richard. "I'm going to be a gay icon," she confidently asserts. Even when some hint of self-knowledge enters her head, she can't resist shutting it out with cries like, "I've got a Web site in Bristol."

Jean isn't as clueless as she looks, though. If she really thought her career was on the rebound, she wouldn't be so desperate to hold on to her sons. Jill reminds her of everything she's lost — her figure and her potential.

It's less clear why the experienced Jill wants to be a part of this crazy bunch. Tim's pretty cute, but he's incredibly awkward. She initiates him into the wonders of sex in the coming-of-age tale, and here is where the film most departs from last summer's feel-good family comedy: The warmhearted "Sunshine" didn't have the somewhat graphic sex scenes of "Dwights."

As with "Sunshine," much of "Dwight's" success is owed to its performances. Mr. Chittenden and Miss Booth put in star-making turns as two young lower-middle-class people learning to assert themselves for the first time. Mr. Wilson is sweetly funny — but never offensive — as the brain-damaged Mark.

The Oscar-nominated Miss Blethyn is, as usual, pitch-perfect as the larger-than-life needy mother. She somehow manages to gain our sympathy even while sabotaging her sons' lives. When she sadly and resignedly declares, "You're on your own. I'm breaking up the act," all her transgressions are forgiven.

Reviews: UK

Clubland

by Hazel, PQ Continuum, Cambridge Film Festival 11th July 2007

I am lucky enough to live close enough to Cambridge able to take in the first UK showing of Clubland.

Everyone will have read the press reviews and know the synopsis so I will not bore you by going over familiar ground.

Clubland is a dark romantic family drama that shows young love and mother love with truth and sensitivity.

This little gem provides Brenda Blethyn with yet another flawed character to get to grips with. Not one to disappoint Miss Blethyn depiction of the bawdy irreverent Jean does this in spades making you want to weep, laugh and give her a good shake in quick succession.

All the main character are full of life due to a great script and superb direction. Khan Chittenden as Jean's younger son Tim plays the part of a naive shy teenager with style and grace, while his older brother Mark (Richard Wilson) is rebellious, funny and the family lynch pin. Jill (Emma Booth) really gets to grips with her character; whilst allowing us to see an assertive and strong young woman in both her burgeoning relations with Tim and his over possessive mother she also is very vulnerable.

Our very own Philip Quast gave as always a great if too short a performance as Ronnie Stubbs. Larger that life in a Tuxedo Philips' first scene is easily missed as he descends down a large slide franked by two lovelies. Sadly this is on a TV screen in the background. His real entrance is when he visits Jeans's home dressed in a very loud Hawaiian shirt and carrying a guitar. The archetypal brash agent' he has some great one lines that make you wince they are so corny. I won't spoil the film by quoting them.

Like all good romcoms it has a happy finale - The wedding. I shall always smile as I visualise Miss Blethyn entertaining the guest with an impersonation of Tina Turner (with all the moves) singing Nutbush city limits; made even funnier by the whole wedding party line dancing. If you look carefully you can spy Philip doing all the moves. It looks like they had a blast!

We like to say thanks to Hazel and how much we appreciate her taking the time to write the review for us.

More details to come soon.


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