Mental (2013)
Average Rating: 5.5/10
Reviews Counted: 50
Fresh: 20 | Rotten: 30
Mental is a well-acted black comedy that suffers from jarring tonal shifts and a lack of comic discipline.
Average Rating: 4.5/10
Critic Reviews: 10
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 8
Mental is a well-acted black comedy that suffers from jarring tonal shifts and a lack of comic discipline.
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Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 1,164
My Rating
Movie Info
Set in the fictional town of Dolphin Heads, MENTAL is written and directed by PJ Hogan and produced by Jerry Zucker, Janet Zucker, Todd Fellman and Jocelyn Moorhouse. The comedy stars Toni Collette (United States of Tara, Little Miss Sunshine, About A Boy, The Sixth Sense), Liev Schreiber (Salt, X-Men Origins: Wolverine), Anthony LaPaglia (Without A Trace, Balibo), Rebecca Gibney (Packed to the Rafters), Kerry Fox (Cloudstreet, Bright Star), Caroline Goodall (Dorian Gray) Deborah Mailman
Mar 29, 2013 Limited
Dada Films
- Official Site
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Toni Collette
Shaz -
Liev Schreiber
Trevor Blundell -
Anthony LaPaglia
Barry Moochmore -
Rebecca Gibney
Shirley Moochmore -
Kerry Fox
Nancy -
Caroline Goodall
Doris -
Deborah Mailman
Sandra -
Lily Sullivan
Coral Moochmore -
Sam Clark
Trout -
Hayley Magnus
Donna -
Malorie O'Neill
Michelle Moochmore -
Nicole Freeman
Leanne Moochmore -
Chelsea Bennett
Kayleen Moochmore -
Bethany Whitmore
Jane Moochmore
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All Critics (50) | Top Critics (10) | Fresh (20) | Rotten (30)
The heart of Hogan's film is in the right place, and Collette is masterful as an agent of anarchy.
Top CriticThe scenery Down Under looks great and you certainly can't write off a film where Liev Schreiber plays a shark hunter.
Writer-director P.J. Hogan may have based "Mental" on an actual incident from his childhood, but the crazy quilt of a movie that resulted feels anything but real.
"Mental" wildly overplays the kookiness and quirk.
A lot of times, you simply want the jabbering characters to shut up.
Mental skewers the easy-on and -off labels of psychiatry, but some sequences, particularly one of "bad dreams," are sophomoric.
The humour is every bit as rude and raucous as before, but Hogan's touch here seems heavy handed and the use of songs from The Sound of Music doesn't work nearly so well as the joyous Abba tunes that drove Muriel's Wedding.
There are some big laughs and fine performances, yet not enough realistic grounding in the characters or story to sustain its dramatic transition in the second half.
Given the film's garrulous multitude of characters, one wishes they would all just shut up and sing.
Enjoyable performances can't compensate for the film's lack of control: in Hogan's hands the broad humor sells out the sincerity, and when that mark is missed, we end up at twee.
Not content to make his point through sharp-tongued comedy, Hogan ends up beating a dead horse -- or shark, as the case may be.
Hilarious but a tonal bucking bronco, the effort is perhaps best reserved for viewers in the mood for a runaway mine cart viewing experience, willing to absorb all the chaos Hogan happily provides.
A kooky comedy in which a spirited cast is almost suffocated by too-aggressive direction.
If one wants to see Toni Collette light a fart on fire, well, this misguided reunion with her Muriel's Wedding director may be the only chance they get.
It's a bewilderingly strange movie, the kind of thing that one might write off as being lost in translation from its Australian origin before realizing it wasn't that funny there either.
Not every cute movie about the mentally ill is Oscar worthy, but this touching and riotous one from Down Under works well enough.
Collette anchors the film with a selfless, let-it-all-hang-out performance that sets an agreeably anarchic tone.
Audience Reviews for Mental
Super Reviewer
I was crying at the ending, and making me mental a bit :D
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Latest News on Mental
March 29, 2013:
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