Mental

source: Mental

Diane and I viewed this film today and we both left the theater with virtually the same thoughts regarding it. The movie seemed to be a magnet for many hugely talented Australian actors but we both thought that the final edit was not up to the strength of that cast. The actors in this film delivered a blameless performance and they could certainly be expected to because they are some of the best in the country. The comedy work in the first half left us both in stitches(no small thanks to Toni Collett) and La Paglia delivers his usual wonderful performance as does Gibney throughout the film. The children deserve particular credit for their work in what was to become an uneven film. Even with these shortfalls I believe that time watching this film is time well spent; you well laugh and perhaps shed a tear at the all to familiar episodes that continually crop up in this delightful film!

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!!!!!

This review may contain spoilers. First of all, to all the people saying that anybody writing negative comments about the lack of organization, plot, clarity, etc just "don't understand mental illness or living with somebody with mental illness", please stop. You are only making yourselves sound foolish. I have family members that have lost their lives due to mental illness, and it is much more complex and can be much, much darker than this movie portrays. So you yourselves are the ones that don't get it. And as for the film itself, it is like it never got out of the brainstorming phase. I say it had potential because of the talented actors, but this movie had no idea where it was going. Shaz starts off as a pothead, then they just leave that aspect out of rest of the movie. Well, until the very end, but you would thought maybe they could have a scene with the kids,father's campaign, etc. Kind of like in brainstorming, you start with an idea, but then forget about it. Also, one moment the crazy aunt seems like she is going to show remorse and change, but then she doesn't. The father seems as if he might change, but he doesn't. The two scenes at the aquarium could have just been one scene. Maybe it is titled mental because it keeps going on in circles with no true progress and that can be a challenge of dealing with mental illness, but I didn't need to spend almost two hours of my life watching a non-fiction movie with no plot that succeeds on about two of thirty attempts at humor to confirm that. I would have preferred a documentary. And as for the whole Sound of Music parody, OK. I can not make a complete connection with the overall intention of the film, except maybe to get viewers from old Sound of Music fans.

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 :)

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.

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.

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.

It's not that difficult to make me laugh but the "singing Russel Crowe look-a-like" was the only thing remotely funny. From the very word go, the movie tries to make a funny, but unfortunately it was backed up with substandard acting I could have done in my own backyard and this choked any humor into oblivion. A lot of the movie did come together in the end, and it seems that many the audiences liked the movie. I must have been surrounded by Aussie yobboes in that theater last night. The topic of the movie is mental illness, and this issue is a very serious social issue. In other words movie is trying to give a balance between family issues, social issues, and schizophrenia versus providing comedy and entertainment. The directors probably tried to find that balance without looking sadistic and insensitive, but sadly the makers of this movie didn't have it in them to pull it off. It was a sign that the director gave up on finding this balance when the young teenage girl announces that she was schizophrenic and the family laughs in unison... gee how sweet. Yes, this was one of the jokes which failed to draw a laugh out of me. I like how Toni Collette just gets randomly picked up off the street (literally) in the movie and then bang!, she's the central character. Is this some new movie mechanism or something? IE If you need a new character in a movie you drive around town and just pick one randomly off the street? A secondary theme in the movie was a 'stand up for yourself' and 'don't get bullied' theme. Sadly the chances of picking up someone who dresses like a prostitute off the street corner to give young people lessons about self respect harms this theme somewhat. I don't recommend anyone pick up a random person off the street - period!, just as I don't recommend this disappointment of a movie.

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.