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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Taglines:

A New Kind of Nanny is Coming to Town.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rebecca Gibney put on 20 kilograms for the role and was in danger of becoming insulin resistant and pre-diabetic. "I was one step away from diabetes so if I had put on more weight I would get diabetes. So I stopped and we decided to employ the use of a fat suit.'' Gibney stopped her aggressive eating habits following the health scare but she didn't immediately trim down. She maintained her overweight figure for as long as she could during the shooting of the feature movie without further putting her health in jeopardy. "The double chin is all mine,'' Gibney joked.

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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

Shaz: Do you know the meaning of the word 'conformia'?
[children all nod]
Shaz: Well, I don't. I instinctively do not know it.

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Connections

References The Sound of Music (1965)

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Soundtracks

So Long Farewell
Written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II
Used by permission of Native Tongue Music Publishing obo Williamson Music, A Division of Rodgers & Hammerstein: An Imagem Company
Performed by Henry Choo and Antoinette Halloran
Produced and Arranged by Michael Yezerski

User Reviews

Solid foreign venture

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.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Australia USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 March 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mental

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$9,804, 31 March 2013

Gross USA:

$17,669

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,446,852

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