my mother frank begin a a warm and amiable comedy about a middle age catholic woman ( frank and short for francis and play by sinead cusack ) who shake herself out of the doldrums by enrol a a student in her son university . most of her friend and family be horrify and not least her son ( matthew newton ) and who be busy fall in love with his best mate girlfriend ( rise byrne ) . meanwhile frank have raise the ire of her disapprove english tutor ( sam neill ) . matthew newton be utterly disarm a david while relaxed and natural in the role and even when the character uptight . he generate valuable goodwill and steer the audience through some of the film more awkward and broad comedy moment . not long after the half way point and first time writer director mark lamprell expertly steer his film into darker emotional territory and give cusack a real chance to shine . the support cast be full of familiar and welcome face ( lynette curran and sacha horler and nicholas bishop ) and all the principal ( include a more animated than usual sam neill ) be excellent . while it meander a little towards the end and my mother frank delivers more than it promise and be a genuine australian crowd pleaser .