CS Weekly Archive > Weekend Read > 07/06/07

The Kind of Love You Remember

By peter clines

A fine import from Australia, Introducing the Dwights takes a radical new spin on young love, familial love, and overprotective mothers—it tells the truth about them. A film about a boy, his mum, and his new girl, the story relies less on the shorthand Hollywood uses for relationships and instead shows the emotions and reactions that we see in our own lives.

Introducing the Dwights

Keith Thompson

Jean Dwight (two-time Oscar nominee Brenda Blethyn) is the doting, somewhat overprotective mother of her two sons Tim (Khan Chittenden) and intellectually disabled Mark (Richard Wilson, in an Oscar-worthy performance). The somewhat dysfunctional family has fallen into a nice, steady routine, with Mark helping his mother practice her act as a raunchy nightclub comedienne while Tim brings in extra money driving a truck-for-hire. But when Tim meets Jill (Emma Booth) while on a job, the two fall into a happy (and extremely physical) relationship that grows stronger and deeper by the day, threatening Jean's well-established world. As days turn into weeks and Jill begins to win over Mark as well, Jean sees all her carefully formed routines crumbling around her, and Tim realizes he may have to choose between the women he loves.

The product of much thought and work by longtime screenwriter Keith Thompson (Lockie Leonard), Introducing the Dwights is another clever movie that likely never would have made it through the Hollywood machine unscathed. Part character study and part romantic comedy, all of it sprinkled with autobiography, it's a film that's very difficult to fit into an easy category. While it may be hard to classify, though, the strength of its characters allow it to find its own place.

There are some wonderful elements to the script, first among them the character of Jean as she's forced to relate to her son's new girlfriend and the changes she makes in their lives. Unlike so many over-the-top parental figures in recent cinematic history (Monster in Law or License to Wed), there isn't anything spiteful or vicious about her dislike of Jill. Jean simply sees the girl as an annoying hobby Tim has developed, one it would be best if he got bored with and forgot. "My biggest concern," admits screenwriter Thompson, "was that I wanted there to be no heroes and villains. I wanted everyone to be doing their best, as it were." Jean's actions are honest and more dismissive than vindictive. Half the time she barely even acknowledges the young woman's presence, even when she's reducing Jill to tears.

Also worth mentioning is Mark, who's much wiser and more aware than he lets most people think. Thompson's time working on the Australian show Housegang gave him a special perspective on actors with mental disabilities. "The character was an amalgam of a number of young kids that I met through the course of workshops for this sitcom," he explains, pointing out Mark's elaborate vocabulary and speech patterns. Despite his disability, Mark is a rich and active character in the film, no less detailed than any other. He's fascinated with his brother's new relationship, takes full notice of his mother's disapproval of it, and alternately plays wingman or runs interference as needed.


Last but not least is the romance between Tim and Jill. Again, going against the grain of most films, their fledgling relationship isn't smooth, perfect, or even inevitable. The young couple is constantly stumbling as they get to know one another and deal with the reactions different situations provoke. Far from the romantic-comedy template, sex for them is an awkward discovery that stretches out over several weeks, filled with just as much laughter and confusion as excitement and ecstasy. Thompson hasn't written love as it grows in the movies, but as it happens and blossoms in real life.

That's the secret of the film. We've all seen Hollywood love hundreds of times—connections that form in hours between beautiful people as tidal waves of perfect emotion crash over them. The triangle between Jean, Tim, and Jill, many times revolving around Mark, is filled with real love, the type that we can all relate to. The kind of mere-mortal love that continues to develop, makes us into better people, and, in the end, really does conquer all.

So true that sometimes it hurts, Introducing the Dwights is a beautiful example of how honest characters and situations can lift a film above the need for household names or CGI effects. A well-told, simple story about real people, Thompson's screenplay hits the real heartstrings, not the ones so often tugged by Hollywood films.

Introducing the Dwights
Warner Independent Pictures
Rated R; 106 min.

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Peter Clines has had a lifelong love affair with the movies. He grew up in New England, where he studied English literature and education, and now lives and writes somewhere in Southern California. If anyone knows exactly where, he would appreciate a few hints.

Introducing the Dwights courtesy Warner Independent

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