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:

Toni Collette, Anthony LaPaglia, Liev Schreiber

1 win & 16 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rebecca Gibney	...	Shirley
Hayley Magnus	...	Donna
Nicole Freeman	...	Leanne
Chelsea Bennett	...	Kayleen
Bethany Whitmore	...	Jane
Lily Sullivan	...	Coral
Holly Buchanan	...	Coral - 13yo
Malorie O'Neill	...	Michelle
Kerry Fox	...	Nancy
Sam Clark	...	Trout
Amanda Woodhams	...	Manda
Natasha Bassett	...	Kay
Liev Schreiber	...	Trevor
Caroline Goodall	...	Doris
Austin Caffin	...	Faceless Figure

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:

australia | sister sister relationship | hitchhiker | family relationships | adultery | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Australia USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 March 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kaheli

Filming Locations:

Mt. Warning National Park, Murwillumbah, New South Wales, Australia

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$750, 5 April 2013, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$17,346, 7 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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Goofs

When Mr. Moochmore sits down to the dinner the girls made, the first item from the food dishes he is offered is a piece of bread, which he places on his plate. He then starts to reach for the spoon in the bowl of peas. In the next shot, the bread is gone from his plate, and in its place is a half a cob of corn. He is shown again reaching for the spoon in the peas, yet there is already a small pile of peas on his plate, and the bread is being held out to be offered once more.

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Quotes

Coral Moochmore: I can't go any further. I won't.
Shaz: You don't get to the top of this mountain, Coral, then you're nuthin', just like they say ya are.
Coral Moochmore: What's the point of getting to the top anyway?
Shaz: Not being at the bottom.

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Connections

References The Sound of Music (1965)

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Soundtracks

Danny Dakota and the Wishing Well
Written and Produced by Silent Film
Mixed by Catherine Marks
Published by Creative Media Investments LLC
Master Copyright owned by A Silent Film LLC

User Reviews

epic movie laughed like mad

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 :)