What It Is: Australian dramedy about a selfish mother that's beginning to lose her 20-something son.Why I Watched It: Free advance screening, and this Slut will watch just about anything that's free!
What I Thought: I liked it. Brenda Blethyn was very good as momma Dwight, but I think Khan Chittenden was the real star as her increasingly independent son, Tim. Blethyn's been nominated for 2 Oscars, but Chittenden's career is just crossing over from TV to film. Keep an eye on this kid, he definitely showed some promise!
The comedy bits with mom were kind of funny, but the real humor was the burgeoning adulthood of her son. Unlike many comedies, you weren't laughing AT the Dwights you were laughing WITH them. Tim was so adorably inexperienced and shy that I couldn't help but smile and feel a mixture of pity and hope for him. I spent the whole movie rooting for the poor sap and desperately hoping Mom would come to her senses.
Being a dramedy, Dwights was not all fun and games. The film spent some quality time with subjects involving Mom's career oriented selfishness, Tim's coming of age, the necessary assertiveness of Tim's shiny new girlfriend, Mom's hesitance to let her boy grow up, etc. Where the comedy was only okay, I think the drama in Dwights was really good. All the emotion felt very natural and none of the characters seemed to be overly dramatic just for the plot's sake. The Dwights really did seem like a real family with real problems and whenever the tension got a little too high, there was always a joke headed our way to take the edge off.
Highlights: Tim's first time, pillow talk involving mufflers or some such, hilarious sibling relationship between Tim and his brother Mark, Mom's passive-aggressive "forgetting" of the new girlfriend's name, and all the references to earlier fiascoes and incidents that never needed elaborating.
Who Should See It: It's a good date movie, but otherwise it's just a feel good rental for most anyone.
How Soon: No hurry, no need to go out of your way, but it was an enjoyable film.
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