Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here, with a little film that reminded me how much I miss the days when there seemed to be a new film from Australia every month. I'm not sure if fewer films are being made Down Under or if just less of them are making it stateside, but I sincerely hope this movie is a sign of things to come.

Considering I had zero expectations (which is different than having low expectations) and knew virtually nothing (outside of the names of some of the cast members) about this dark family comedy, INTRODUCING THE DWIGHTS (called CLUBLAND in its native country) really surprised with its pitch-black wit and big heart. In fact, it struck me as the kind of film John Waters might have made if he'd lived in Australia. I'm in no way saying that director Cherie Nowlan (who came out of television; I believe this is her second feature) was inspired by Waters, but there are elements that would have seemed very much at home in one of his films. I especially appreciated the way the film whole-heartedly embraces its white-trash, booze-soaked vulgarity in the form of Brenda Blethyn's Jean, the dirty-housewife stand-up comic who clings to her two grown sons and her prospects for a career breakthrough as if her life depended on it.

Son Tim (Khan Chittenden) runs a small moving company during the day and drives Jean to her stand-up gigs at night. It doesn't leave him much time for a personal life, and that's just find with Jean. Tim's brother Mark (Richard Wilson from THE PROPOSITION) is mildly retarded, and taking care of him when mom's working or rehearsing is Tim's third job. The brothers are extremely close, and mom reminds them every chance she gets that having them at a young age put an end to her career, which is only now beginning to pick up again (at least in her mind). The boys' absentee father (Frankie J. Holden) lives in town and also pulls double duty as both a department store security guard and a country singer specializing in Conway Twitty tunes. When Mark meets the beautiful Jill (newcomer Emma Booth; expect to see more of her in the future) while moving her into a new apartment, he is immediately taken by her kindness and patience with his awkward social skills. Naturally, Jean is threatened and does what she can to sabotage any attempt by Mark to escape her nest. Her being drunk and embarrassing every time Jill comes over to visit goes a long way to those ends.

I realize I'm painted Jean out to be a monster, and sometimes she most definitely is, but she's also hilarious (drunk or sober), scared, and in a kind of alcohol-drenched pain. In another actress's hands, Jean would have been impossible to embrace with any level of sympathy, but Blethyn (a two-time Oscar nominee for SECRETS & LIES and LITTLE VOICE) doesn't demonize Jean with her performance, and that's the key to the film's success.

The relationship between Tim and Jill is bumpy, partly because she's something of a party girl and he's a virginous mama's boy. The more Jill draws Tim out from under his mother's wing, the more chaotic things become. INTRODUCING THE DWIGHTS is filled with loads of uncomfortable, but still hilarious, sequences of this extended family (which also includes Jill's roommate and Jean's old show business pals) maneuvering around each other or simply slamming into each other in a drunken stupor. The film isn't afraid to be loud, offensive, or messy, but it also doesn't shy away from being touching at times. And it pulls it off without seeming schizophrenic. In many ways, the film reminds me of the quirky Australian comedies I fell in love with during the 1980s, but DWIGHTS is much darker and cynical. And none of those films had Brenda Blethyn at their center, putting in another remarkable performance. This is a satisfying and extremely funny movie, which is scheduled to open in many cities on July 13.

Capone