Mental (2012)

A charismatic, crazy hothead transforms a family's life when she becomes the nanny of five girls whose mother has cracked from her husband's political ambitions and his infidelity.

Director:

P.J. Hogan

Writer:

P.J. Hogan

Stars:

Liev Schreiber, Toni Collette, Anthony LaPaglia

1 win & 10 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Liev Schreiber	...	Trevor Blundell
Toni Collette	...	Shaz
Caroline Goodall	...	Doris
Anthony LaPaglia	...	Barry Moochmore
Kerry Fox	...	Nancy
Deborah Mailman	...	Sandra
Rebecca Gibney	...	Shirley Moochmore
Lily Sullivan	...	Coral Moochmore
Sam Clark	...	Trout
Sophie Lee	...	Jean
Bethany Whitmore	...	Jane Moochmore
Rob Carlton	...	Jack
Natasha Bassett	...	Kay
Malorie O'Neill	...	Michelle Moochmore
Amanda Woodhams	...	Manda

Storyline

The Moochmore girls are certain they all suffer from some kind of undiagnosed mental illness - because if they're not crazy then they're just unpopular. Their mother Shirley - unable to cope with her demanding daughters and unsupported by her philandering politician husband, Barry - suffers a nervous breakdown. After Barry commits his wife to a mental hospital (telling his constituents that "she's on holiday") he finds himself alone with 5 teenage girls he barely knows. Desperate, he impulsively picks up a hitchhiker named Shaz and installs her in his home as nanny to his daughters.

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Plot Keywords:

nanny | flaming fart

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 March 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Nanny

Filming Locations:

Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$750 (USA) (5 April 2013)

Gross:

$17,346 (USA) (5 April 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Screen Australia, Story Bridge Films, Zucker Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In an interview on Australian television, P.J. Hogan said that Mental is autobiographical, that his own father had his wife committed, hired a hitchhiker to babysit his children - he trusted her because she had a dog - and later found out that she was an escapee.

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Quotes

Shaz: America, Europe, Asia, and all the way down here is Australia. Alone. Isolated. Ever wonder why? Why we're down here?
Jane Moochmore: Well, we were a penal colony.
Shaz: That's the cover story, yeah, but historically where have they always sent the loonies? As far away as possible. You can't get any further away than Australia. We weren't a penal colony, we was a lunatic asylum. Our ancestors were loonies and this is the result. Have a look around. There's no such thing as normal, there's just different shades of ...
[...]

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Soundtracks

"Amore"
Written and Produced by Stephen Edwards
Performed by Homer Greencastle
Courtesy Source in Sync

User Reviews

Enjoyable

Having just watched the abominable Jurassic Attack, and its appalling acting / effects / storyline I sought light relief in this movie. As with much of Aussie Humour some of it can seem crass and even bizarre (think Black Sheep), this was no different and turned out to be way better than some reviews would have you believe.

It is a very enjoyable, zany movie and the casting was very well done and they gelled perfectly it is difficult to pick out a best performance, the last movie I paid to watch was the Big Budget garbage 2012, and wanted to leave 10 minutes in feeling bad I paid to watch it, I would have left the theatre in a better mood if I had watched this instead.

Watch, enjoy and have a laugh, our crazy colonial cousins turned out a beaut :)