User reviews

When a lot of Aussie films come out, that purport to be comedies, or are marketed that way, I shiver. I mean, Muriel's Wedding wasn't bad, I just found it hard to assign it a genre. Same with Mental. I look at the characters in both of these films and think, Who ARE these people? I live in suburbia in Australia and I have never come across these sorts of characters. The only REAL characterisation in Mental for me was created by the actor who plays Trevor Blundell. I kept looking at him on the screen and wondering where this really very good Australian actor had sprung from; how come I'd never come across him before. Then, at the end, I realised that the answer was that he is American, doing a fine Aussie accent. I smiled at the Sound of Music references in Mental (must have cost a pretty penny) and I liked the real bits in the film. The rest of it - I could have taken, or left.

Shirley Moochmore (Rebecca Gibney) is a mother of five suffering under her absentee cheating husband Barry (Anthony LaPaglia). She wants to be Maria Von Trapp with her kids. All five of the kids think they are mentally ill although maybe one of them actually is. Barry is the small town mayor of Dolphin Heads. When he sends her to a mental institution, he picks up hitchhiker Shaz (Toni Collette) to look after his kids. The oldest daughter Coral (Lily Sullivan) has a wacky shark-obsessed boss Trevor (Liev Schreiber) at the waterpark.

Writer/director P.J. Hogan reunites with Toni Collette to bring an outlandish sensibility to this Australian suburb. As Shaz points out, everybody suffers from one form of mental illness or another. I like all 5 girls and I love Toni Collette. The start is a little bit problematic as we wait for the arrival of Toni. Her time with the girls is fun and quirky. It has an uplifting sense. Everything is going as expected, but the movie does take a turn into the darker side. I'm not oppose to the turn, but it is very jarring. And like other Hogan films, there is a couple of singalong moments.

Outside of mad Max I'm not much of an Aussie cinema buff.

Accents can be enough to squash interest for us colonials, but id like to ease concern. The Aussie tongue is thick enough to have you worried in the first ten minutes but not thick enough that you want to give up watching. It's a helpful bonus that most of the actors do an great job, and that always make acclimating to a different tongue much more painless. Certainly a watchable film from the wrong hemisphere.

Also lily Sullivan shines. I was hypnotized by her. She's lovely, yet brilliantly normal, but intriguingly interesting. I spent half the film thinking, wow I can't wait for her to get to Hollywood. And I sincerely mean that. Shes got quite an enjoyable gleam about her.

Enough of the schoolboy crush. The film itself was watchable.nothing bad about it. It had a few high points and some dull gray areas. Nothing wrong with it, just felt like 2 or 3 seriously funny parts would have taken it from 'worth watching' to a 'must watch'

A good little change of pace for an American like myself. I thought it was a well deserved redbox rental.

Unsure of where to turn after his wife suffers a nervous breakdown, a workaholic politician hires a drifter as a nanny for his five daughters, each of whom believe that they are also insane, in this Australian comedy written and directed by P.J. Hogan of 'Muriel's Wedding' fame. This might sound like a relatively straightforward plot, but the catch is that the drifter is perhaps the most mentally unstable person of them all, and while Toni Collette is occasionally over-the-top in the role, her words of wisdom are surprisingly thoughtful as she shows the daughters that everybody is a little "mental" going on textbook definitions. Kerry Fox as a posh, nosey neighbour comes under her hammer in particular and her pure white house is a magnificent feat of art direction. The film's most outstanding technical aspect though is Don McAlpine's cinematography, with unusual camera angles and mobile shots a la his Oscar nominated work on 'Moulin Rouge!'. Energetic supporting performances abound - from Liev Schreiber and Deborah Mailman in particular - however, the film is never quite as funny as it aims to be. A guitar-playing Sam Clark is frankly a nuisance and the film walks an uneasy fine line between normalising mental illness and trivialising it as one of the daughters definitely has some undiagnosed condition whereas the others just believe that they are "mental" to explain their unpopularity. A key line, "how neurotypical" lingers in the mind though, and while uneven as a comedy, the film does at least offer a welcome positive outlook on being and feeling ever-so-slightly different.

I have to say in response to another reviewers comments that the fact that they say "muddled plot and complicatedness of the character interactions' causes disappointment only further identifies the lack of knowledge for society around people living with mental health illnesses.

I think that if it is viewed to be muddled and complicated P J Hogan has fully succeeded in communicating the complexity of living with mental illness and the perception society have when interacting with people living with these illnesses.

I thought it was raw and confronting, cushioned by humor. I loved it.

I'am such a fan of Muriel's Wedding. I consider it the complete coming of age comedy, not only for Muriel herself but for Australian Comic Cinema as well. P.J Hogan provided us with a gem.

While watching Mental I couldn't help but wonder if P.J. was just trying to revisit the wondrous experience of 15 years ago and expecting it to be just a exhilarating. So much of the colour and strangeness of characters were evident. He must have been disappointed.

Sadley Mental falls well short of Muriel's. So far short that I didn't even have to rake the long jump pit. There were no foot marks.

It is not that the characters don't bring something to the film, most of the cast is terrific, it is the muddled plot and complicatedness of the character interactions which causes most disappointment.

Toni Collette (Shaz) tries hard to bring Mental out of it's intoxicated trance but nothing can save this "stinker"; not even methane and lighter fluid.

I took my 16 year old daughter to see this movie and I was a bit unsure if it would be as good as I was expecting after reading other reviews. The comedy alone in this movie is very Australian and we both thoroughly enjoyed the movie from start to finish. This is a very offbeat and quirky comedy however there was a much deeper message to uncover as the movie went on and this added to the higher rating I have given the movie. The way Shaz goes about turning around a family who had no self respect and was looked down upon by neighbours and family was what the movie was really about. Rebecca Gibney and Toni Collette were outstanding and I will be buying the DVD when it comes out to add to my collection of Aussie movies. Plenty of laughs and overall highly entertaining.

This is an Australian "comedy" for Australians...which means its not funny. Director P.J. Hogan had a big hit here with Muriels Wedding in 1994. It appears he has made a similar movie (with mental illness as the central theme) with Mental. Its messy it is incoherent and it feels like it was rushed. The lack of laughs becomes embarrassing....and generally the whole script is tedious. Some of the acting is O.K., but that is easy to over look when everything else is sub-standard. It is strictly for people who enjoy bad movies, or for those who can laugh at Australian "humour". This film is destined to sink like a stone. P.J. needs to go back to basics....If you make a comedy....make sure you have some funny lines, or at least...slapstick.

Went to see this Aussie film from P.J. Hogan today. I have to say I am actually quite flabbergasted that this film has received so many negative reviews? The film follows the exploits of a group of girls, who live with their dysfunctional and mentally disturbed Mother (Gibney), and their non-existent politician father (LaPaglia).

After their mother suffers a breakdown and is sent on "holidays", their father decides to hire Shaz (Toni Collette), to look after the kids while he pursues his political career. She in turn teaches them that life is not all so bad.

People have said this film is essentially a rip-off of P.J. Hogan's breakthrough film Muriel's Wedding. I have not seen Muriel's Wedding in a number of years, and really cannot comment on the comparisons, only my opinion of this film.... And I personally loved it! The film had memorable characters, quirky situations, hilarious scenes, and some truly fantastic acting from all the cast. The stand out for me would have to have been Rebecca Gibney as the crazy mother. Plus Liev Schreiber, totally unrecognizable as a warped Steve Irwin style shark hunter.

While some people may find the humour too crude, or the story too similar to Muriel's Wedding. Everyone else that likes a good Aussie comedy should lap this up! Also if you're from Murwillumbah, and/or surrounding areas, you'll be treated to some familiar sights! :)

I went to watch Mental today with my friend Tracey. After 5 minutes of watching we wanted to get up and leave. But we didn't and kept watching, giving the movie a chance to pick up..What made me so upset is the "way" they use their English...The way they talked was...horrible. Not all Australian talk like that,and I certainly don't and wont. And would never encourage anybody to talk like we haven't learned anything at school!!A long time ago a herd that Australian movies weren't very good, and I've defended the industry, telling people how much I've enjoyed a more than a few Australian films. I didn't laugh much, I felt embarrassed and we were looking at each other like, "what are we watching??".

It was the worst movie I have seen in a long time. I go to the cinema once a week with my dear friend Tracey, and we both felt the same.Today I felt I've wasted my money...So sorry, but honestly, I didn't enjoy it at all.

Clever, quirky, hilariously funny and with enough pathos and melancholy to really get you thinking. If you are one of the beige folk, you will hate it. If you march to the beat of your own drum and always find yourself on the side of the underdog you will love it. Mental illness is definitely not off limits and with typical Australian irreverence the subject is tackled head on. Draws some conclusions about "normality" that some people will not be comfortable with. You will recognise a few big names, but the supporting actors were all equally talented. A genuinely amazing film. Actually funnier than Muriel's wedding. Destined to become a classic, with excellent performances from all.

OMG seriously? Are those review on the first page even know what a movie is? I'm gonna make a list on other movie that they giving 10stars and definitely gonna skip those too.

I watched first 5min then and double the playback speed for 30min and then fast forward till last 10min and can confirm this is one of the worst movie of the year!!!

I don't find any joke in it, its just a lame boring movie you should totally skip it.

And IMDb need me to wrote at least 10lines? What a joke, even one line is more than enough, just skip it.

i am making a list of every reviewer who gave this movie a positive review and marking them never to read again as they have nothing to offer me when it comes to recommending movies. i was shocked to find out that it was the same director as Muriel's wedding but i then read he also did my best friends wedding and on remembering that singing scene at the restaurant were they all joined in it made perfect sense.(i say a little prayer for you!CRINGE) i am just so glad i didn't waste my money and time seeing it at the cinema but i am sorry i read the first 2 pages of user reviews on this site as it is not until the 3rd page that the truth comes out. for the first time ever i nearly asked video ezy for my $5.95 back but its not there fault.

I love psychodramas, so the chance to see Toni Collette in a film touching on mental illness was too good to miss. I was stunned to hear that the underlying story of this movie is true! Some reviewers have labeled the plot as complicated and bumpy - and it is - sort of like real life. However the plot is less important than the characters and the underlying themes. The cast is superb, particularly Collette, Gibney and newcomer Lily Sullivan as the eldest daughter. The characters are rich and complex, except for the father (played well by LaPaglia) who is a bit too one dimensional. I preferred the way The United States of Tara handled the issue of being partner to someone with severe mental illness.

However it is the underlying issue of the way mental illness, normality and conformity are experienced and perceived in our society that shines. JP Hogan does not preach or present a one-sided view - rather we see normality as complex and nuanced. Collette plays the deeply flawed yet strangely inspirational Shaz who serves to provoke, challenge and sometimes overturn the other characters' views of normal. Modern psychiatry is neither approved nor mocked. The "normal" characters are revealed as sometimes shallow and fragile - not as normal as they seem.

The comedy ranges from subtle, to ocker, to cartoonish and melodramatic. Not everyone will like it. Some scenes are just plain absurdist.

I suspect that like Muriel, this is a multi-layered film that will actually stand up to repeated viewing. As for the tag line - well it's going to be hard not to laugh whenever my friends talk of "going to Wollongong" - and I can say that because it's where I live.

Review: When I saw that this movie was made by the makers of Muriel's Wedding, I kind of knew what to expect. Its very much like Muriel's Wedding and some of the storyline was the same but it's still funny with a deep undertone. Its about a family who all think that there going mad, hence the title, and the mum of the children ends up going mad because her husband doesn't come home. There mum finally ends up spending loads of her husbands money on useless items so she gets put in a mental institution which means that there dad has to take care of them. He soon realises that he can't handle his children's behaviour so he hires a live in nanny who takes care of the children while he's battling to become the town mayor. The new found nanny uses her warped abilities to try and sort out the kids and bring them closer to there dad. I quite enjoyed this original movie, which had some amusing moments and the storyline does take some unpredictable turns which did surprise me. It doesn't slow down from beginning to end and the acting from the whole cast, especially Toni Collette, was spot on. You do have to be in the right frame of mind to watch it because of it Australian warped sense of humour but it's a fun, crazy film which has its ups and downs. Enjoyable!

Round-Up: Whilst watching this film I was wondering were they were going with the storyline, but the director done well to bring in different elements to the project. Toni Collette has become a big star since Muriel's Wedding with movies like the Sixth Sense, Shaft and Little Miss Sunshine but in this movie she fitted in well as the crazy nanny who tries to make the 5 girls gain confidence. Liev Schreiber &  Anthony LaPaglia were great additions to the cast and I liked the relationship between Collette & Schreiber which was a good twist to the strange storyline. In all its a very Australian comedy which is very much like Muriel's Wedding but it does have some different elements which makes it interesting. 

Budget: N/A Worldwide Gross: $3.6million

I recommend this movie to people who are into their comedies/dramas about 5 girls who get brought up by there crazy live in nanny after there mum goes mad. 5/10

I wasn't sure what to expect as I hadn't read any reviews and only saw a quick snapshot of the previews, but I did know it was from the Director of Muriel's Wedding so I knew I was in good hands.

I thought this film was great! It was quick, witty, with laugh after laugh. The cinema I was in wasn't even completely full yet the laughter just kept rolling and rolling throughout the film. Some scenes were completely outrageous and I think this was hard to pull off, if anyone else attempted to do it, it probably would not have worked.

The casting was brilliant, the chemistry between the characters felt real, and the underlying issues and themes are very real so in amongst the comic genius, I shed a tear or two.

There was definitely some similarities to Muriel's wedding, especially at the beginning of the film as the story was being set, but it wasn't too much and once I knew about the Director's personal life and experiences it made more sense.

I don't buy many DVD's but this will be one of them. The film is so Australian and I want to keep it on my shelf so I can pull it out for a great laugh or to be reminded that we are all a little mental.

I gave this film 10/10 because of its ability to make me laugh so hard and make me feel deeply for the characters at the same time. And, because it was bold, outrageous, very Australian and had the ability to blow me away!

Good quality humor, excellent actor performance, Toni Collette at her best and I can not imagine another actor acting better then her in this movie. Best movie of 2012 in this genre so far. Don't want to spoil it for anybody, the movie captures in a funny sarcastic manner the madness in which the present society is bathing. For thous who don't know Toni Collette, until this movie, I really recommend United States of Tara, the TV series. This actress really knows how to act as a mental person and know how to enter the character. Definitely I will buy the DVD for the collection and recommend it to everybody, especially to those with similar issues shown in the movie. Thank you P.J. Hogan for this movie!

I will not write about a plot, that's done already, I'll write about what got me.

It's amazing the idea of P.J.Hogan to show us, that everybody is kind of "mental" and it starts straight in the title of the movie, when the letter E is falling apart. Then The name Moochmore is preparing us for a ride with "the sound of music", with the sound of mental disorders. Let's introduce some of the characters.

Shirley, mum of 5 daughters, is compensating the missing love of her husband with an ipad by singing, which is making her ridiculous in front of the other people and her relatives; by the way she is doing it in her back yard, so there should be little bit of a privacy in there, but the "watching neighbours" are everywhere. She is bullied by her sister - real psycho anyway, by the coffee shop manager and she tells for everything sorry. She explodes in shopping addiction and that's the last straw which is making her loving husband coming home and her going for a "holidays".

The father, Barry Moochemore, is mooching his wife for his upcoming elections, cheating on her and he hates his home, because he doesn't have a home with 5 boys but 5 daughters instead not knowing which one is which one. There is a quote after quote, for example: "Boys have breakdowns, dad." "Not Australian's boys. They are busy to play football." After naming some of the mental disorders by his girls he submit "No one is going mental. Not before I do!"

The history of Shirley and Barry tries to repeat with one of the daughters - Coral when her love affair starts with saying NO to Trout (I don't know if the names are chosen by accident or it's satiric as well - trout and coral working in an aqua park). We learned before that Shirley's love affair and marriage started with a rape.

Chaz, amazing Toni Collette, is a fatalist trying to fix up everybody's life with her Bible "Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders" showing them the real side of their personality. She explains to the girls, that it is normal to be mental in Australia because in the past there were sent only mad people and criminals to Australia to live and they are their's descendants. There is a lovely scene, when she is going to visit one of the "watching neighbours" and when they talk nasty about Moochmores they make this piggy sound while laughing so she starts to make it as well and they think that's totally normal, they even don't notice it.

I could go for ever and ever in the study of these characters, but watch it by yourself, because it is not first planning Hollywood type of comedy and that speaks for it self. Let's finish it with the words of Trevor:

"Everything is Sharks. Life is sharks. Mental is a shark."

You shouldn't read this you should just watch it! Sometimes you stumble over a fresh movie thats pure genius this is one of them.

The movie centers about a suburban broken home and it starts out a bit kinda meh but keep accelerating from there on to pure mental enjoyment.

It take lemons and makes lemonade mace you can spray in the face of your everyday depression.

It reminds me somehow of Hedwig and the angry inch in stylistic way of touching the mundane boring bizarre dark parts of life in a way that jolts you in a good way.

It probably has the best ending of a movie I've seen since the text scrolling dialog in a knights tale.

The story is not the important part hence i don't focus on it,its the ride itself with the characters.

I rarely get to write positive review on IMDb so I'm glad i watched this movie and you should to :)

Why is this movie not being raved about?funny, sad, outrageous- it's got it all. One of the best movies of the year. From the director of Muriel's Wedding, many years later, this is another quirky triumph.Toni Collete is wonderful. All of the younger girls are wonderful. Rebecca Gibney is almost unrecognizable with the fat suit on! Mental illnesses of all different sorts are touched on and this difficult subject is approached full on. Many potentially touchy subjects are dealt with with compassion and humour. A bonus for Queensland residents are the local scenes. I read that this is somewhat of an auto-biography of P.J Hogan, the director. Go and see this movie- you won't be disappointed.

Oh what a treat I got when I sat down in a criminally empty theater to watch Mental, I saw the trailer and to be honest I thought it looked cringe-worthy, but because I'm such a huge fan of Muriel's Wedding I thought I'd give it a go anyway. Muriel's Wedding it ain't, but it's a new classic on its own accord. The film is set in a typical coastal Australian town, complete with regular Aussie houses, fish and chip shops and a public pool, we get to see the Moochmore family at home and we realize that all isn't well with this family, so the mum (expertly played by Australia's golden girl of television Rebecca Gibney), gets shipped off to the loony bin by the bastard father, and then enters Shaz, a character equally as charming and hilarious as Muriel Heslop. This woman transforms all the young daughters in so many ways, teaching them valuable lessons along the way, she even gives the father a serving of her mind which is awesome. As the film progresses we see all isn't as it seems with Shaz but I won't say anymore about that, as its a spoiler and its fun to see it happen without any knowledge.

I'm a massive Aussie at heart, I grew up in country New South Wales so I love seeing real bogan stuff like Mental, the dialogue and the houses and everything just reminds me of growing up. The jokes are by the minute, Toni Collette is one hilarious woman, every line she delivers so spot on, half of the movie wouldn't be what it is if it wasn't executed so well by her. The supporting cast is spectacular, Anthony LaPaglia is good playing against character as the bad father, Rebecca Gibnet is heartbreaking but hilarious as the mum you can't help but feel for, the actress that plays the oldest daughter is going places I'm sure, and Deb, Deb Mailman is down right bloody ridiculously funny, that woman can do no wrong in my opinion.

The film deals with mental illness in a really good way, all the facts and stuff are there, PJ Hogan obviously did his research while writing this movie, it's not sad and fluffy, it's hilarious and wonderful. If you're Australian and don't enjoy Mental, you mustn't be human, there's a bevy of classic lines " you're a mad bitch", lots of laughs, and excellent performances all around.

The perfect night at the pictures, it's sad no one bothers to see Australian films anymore. Come on guys, support the local stuff!!!!!