Gordon-11
This film is about a middle aged woman, who goes through life changes in her career and her family structure."Clubland" can hardly be described as a comedy. I did not find it a tiny bit funny. Not even the deliberate and contrived plot of Jeannie being a comedian could save it. It's simply not fun to watch Jeannie making everyone's lives miserable. The ending is rather bad, as Jeannie makes a complete change of heart for no apparent reason.I must say Brenda Blethyn is good, and Emma Booth is really beautiful. However, these strengths are not enough to save "Clubland" from being a complete bore.
writers_reign
This snuck into London this week virtually unheralded and playing at only one cinema. By chance I stumbled on a paragraph that mentioned the star was Brenda Blethyn so on that basis I checked it out. It's yet another of those 'indie' productions that is fine to see once but probably won't stand repeat viewings. Blethyn plays a stand-up comedian who apparently made a minor name for herself in seventies Britain prior to emigrating and is now trying to reestablish herself in Sydney. For good measure she is divorced - from a Country singer who moonlights as a Security Guard, just as Blethyn moonlights as a canteen worker - and struggling to retain control of her two sons, one of whom is brain-damaged and the other a virgin. One of the problems is that the film can't decide whether to concentrate on Blethyn's attempts to make a living on the club scene, though the material that we actually hear - incredibly and unbelievably credited to Jo Brand - makes this highly unlikely, or the burgeoning love affair between the non brain-damaged son and a new girlfriend, played well by Emma Booth. Basically this one has 'feelgood' written all over it and it that's what you like then you'll like Clubland aka Introducing The Dwights.
rayclister
I have to say that I have not been entertained as much by an Australian movie since the early 1990's when Muriel's Wedding and Priscilla, Queen of the desert hit our screens. A very human drama of a working class family in Sydney's western suburbs that strikes the right note between comedy and drama which is often difficult to pull off. Brenda Blethlyn, playing the domineering Mother does so very well with the result that perhaps her character tends to grate a little by the end of the film but that was only after approximately two hours spending with her and not a life time that the characters around her have had to endure. She is perfectly cast in this role but for me the real stars were Emma Booth who plays the love interest of her son and Khan Chittenden her boyfriend and young man experiencing his sexual awakening. Also worthy of mention is Frankie J Holden as the father and ex-partner of the Blethlyn character. An entirely believable human drama that will have you totally engrossed in the characters until the final reel. How good it is to see that the Australian film industry can still put out such quality cinema with a universal appeal. Go see it you won't be disappointed!
thesien
This film meanders around for too long. It isn't funny enough or moving enough to overcome it's clichéd nature. It's a standard coming of age affair with some romance thrown in. There are a few laughs, but not enough to keep the film afloat. The leads are all reasonable, but in the end the banal material and predictable climax overcomes the qualities of the actors. Surely the Australian Film Finance Corporation can do better than this? Perhaps it looked better on paper. On the plus side Richard Wilson does a stand out job as a retarded young man. The two young romantic leads are both very attractive and have a few good moments together, but again, not enough to bring the mediocre script to life.
AD
