Clubland (2007)

Simply A Masterpiece

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

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.

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.

This is a very annoying film. It could have been excellent but instead it is just adequate. There's a lot to like about it, the major plus being Brenda Blethyn's performance. Always a joy to watch as the woman on the edge of a nervous breakdown, she steals the show once again with her quivering bottom lip and comic timing, but we have seen a very similar performance from her in Secrets & Lies, albeit with less variation. Be careful Brenda! You're at risk of getting typecast. The biggest problems with the film relate to the script (underdeveloped, meandering, loose ends) and the two young leads whose performances are uneven, and that's being especially kind to Khan Chittenden who is no leading man. The other problem is this is formulaic in the Sundance way - family drama, quirky characters, conflict, joy, sadness and humor - not traits that are in themselves bad at all, but in this cinematic combination they come together and make it seem contrived, overly constructed and quite predictable. Is it still a decent film? Yes, if you can get past the first half hour which is very unpromising, but it's a wasted opportunity too.

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.