sweet and charming family drama about an ageing comedian trying to keep her family together whilst pushing them apart. funny scenes and sad ones too. great performance from Blethyn and a good supporting cast

A definite surprise in Australian film from this year. BY no means an Australian classic it sees the industry moving into different directions, notably producing films that will be welcomed in both the national and world wide market. Clubland, a coming of age story with hit and miss comedy may bring the more than occasional smile to your face while watching it. The character of Jean annoyed the absolute shit out of me, therefore the actress and director are successful in their characterisation. My only problem is when the film shifted and we are meant to sympathise with her I failed to see why. The difficult character of Mark wasn't pulled off as successfully as it could have been as the actor occasionally fell out of his character's speech patterns. But overall a very fine effort from the cast. I could have done without all of the sex, one scene would have sufficed, it bordered on unnecessary and uncomfortable, but that's just me. On the whole a thoroughly enjoyable Australian film.

A nice aussie flick!

"I want to have sex with her, constantly." LOL, I wish a guy would say that to his mother about me. It was kind of cute, but I thought the guy playing the main character was younger. A 20 year old is not that shy nor naiive. :T

This film combined the perfect blend of teenage angst, drama, and comedy, in a wonderful combination that was heartwarming to the very core. Albeit the mother's devotion to her son definitely borderlined on the creepy, and the female best friend character was random at best, but all of the colourful characters were entrancing and the plot flowed seamlessly from start to finish. A joyous view.

not the best Australian film around but was ok, kind of intriguing.

‘Clubland’ or ‘Introducing The Dwights’ (depending what country you live in) stars Brenda Blethyn as an aging English entertainer (Jean) living in the suburbs of Sydney with her two sons, Tim and Mark. Struggling to come to terms with the fact life may have passed her by its her son Tim who becomes the barer for all of Jeans shortfalls and he must find the strength to keep the family above water. All goes along smoothly till Tim meets Jill and soon Jean has a nasty taste in her mouth at the thought of Tim needing another woman in his life. This little film was a pleasure to watch. Written by Brenda herself along with help from Jo Brand lending a hand for the stand up routines that Brenda’s character delivers in the working men’s clubs. Brenda as always gives us a great performance - I just love watching her act. This character was somewhere in-between Cynthia from Secrets & Lies and Mari in Little Voice. The rest of the cast gave fine performances and there were a few laugh out loud moments - sometimes when there weren’t meant to be! I don’t know how this little film slipped past my eyes when it was released but I’m certainly glad I got a chance to see it now.

It's boring and weird. Not much to say about it... except that I didn't like it.

its an easy watch..good watch..a little bit ameture movie .

(First and only viewing - In my mid-twenties)

Fairly mediocre, yet made more interesting by the astoundingly unique characters and scenarios. While the despair of the family brings you down, there are few (very few) moments of levity. The male lead is seemingly weak, yet finds the strength to keep his family together most of the time. This is a movie that makes an uncommon family seem so normal that the film feels very realistic.

'Clubland', also known as 'Introducing The Dwights', is actually a rather boring film for quite a few scenes. It's the acting that really makes the film stand out, with Brendan Belthyn the obvious stand-out as a Mother struggling to let her son grow up. The storyline doesn't really have any major breakthroughs or climaxes so it runs fairly slowly, but the acting is what keeps you watching in a way as the lead cast are all very good. Other acting stand-outs would be Richard Wilson, who plays handicapped Mark, and Khan Chittenden who portrays Jean's awkard teenage son Tim who is trying to grow up on his own without his Mum by his side helping him along the way. The final few scenes in the film is finally where things start to heat up, but overall it's not the most interesting of films. Fans of Brenda Belthyn will enjoy her stealing the show, but other than that I can see it winning many new fans along the way.

So glad I ran into this Australian film. Off-kilter, funny, painfully embarrassing at times, this isn't the typical coming-of-age movie.

I enjoyed this movie, perhaps because I identified a bit with Tim. There are a lot of insecure people in this movie. Tim's mom cannot stand to have someone take Tim away from her family. Tim is insecure about dealing with girls - even Jill doesn't know what to do with someone as shy as Tim. I enjoyed the actors - especially the mom who is a comedienne who borders on being funny. The part of Mark was a little confusing as there are times he seems quite delayed and others when there is little wrong with him. By the way, this movie was called Clubland in Australia, but Introducing the Dwights in North America.

very nice film with a great performance from Brenda blethyn

I have no idea what is up with Rotten Tomatoes critics. If this were a story about an over-the-hill middle-aged man it would no doubt garner rave reviews. Brenda Blethyn was incredible, thoroughly convincing and cringe-worthy as the controlling and attention seeking mother. Anyone who has ever had to deal with a mother-in-law or a narcissist will be able to relate. Loved it!

Worth watching. I enjoyed this film about a highly dysfunctional family. Good performances, particularly by those portraying the mother & the 2 sons.

Introducing the Dwights (2007) is about a family with a mother who compensates for her intense fear of losing her children by being domineering, calculating, and destructive. Brenda Blethyn plays Jean, and she really puts in her most solid performance since Saving Grace (2000). Jean slyly browbeats her children, Tim and Mark, into towing the line. When she finds out Tim has a new girlfriend, she really tighens the screws. I also have to give Richard Wilson a thumbs up. I typically dislike performances in which an actor plays someone who's mentally challenged; it seems like they're always brown-nosing for an award. However, I'm making an exception for Wilson. He plays Mark, Jean's son who's received a brain injury during an accident and now functions as the family's lovable sweetheart. He's just frigging hilarious almost every scene he's in. The story is mildly uneven...it's sometimes hard to figure out Jean's motives and why she needs to be such a rotten person sometimes. I also get a little sick of Tim (Khan Chittenden) sometimes because he's such an awkward and gangly character. He's hard to appreciate, even though Chittenden's performance is good as well. Overall, Dwights is a solid character study with a shaky script.

This film runs the gamut from incredibly depressing to intensely joyful. I love Brenda Blethyn's performance in this film--she's the perfect 'weirdo mom'.

I hadn't even heard of this film, but my sister wanted to see it. It's cute and you feel totally drawn into this dysfunctional family, so much so that you want them to succeed.