Plot
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.
Release Year: 2012
Rating: 5.8/10 (1,272 voted)
Director:P.J. Hogan
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.
Filming Locations: Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia
Technical Specs
Runtime:
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. See more »
Quotes:
User Review
Mental the best Aussie movie I have seen in a long time
Rating: 9/10
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.
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