Critic Reviews

• Tom Keogh, Seattle Times

  The heart of Hogan's film is in the right place, and Collette is masterful as an agent of anarchy.

• Lou Lumenick, New York Post

  The scenery Down Under looks great and you certainly can't write off a film where Liev Schreiber plays a shark hunter.

• Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times

  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.

• Stephen Holden, New York Times

  "Mental" wildly overplays the kookiness and quirk.

• Randy Cordova, Arizona Republic

  A lot of times, you simply want the jabbering characters to shut up.

• Marsha McCreadie, Village Voice

  Mental skewers the easy-on and -off labels of psychiatry, but some sequences, particularly one of "bad dreams," are sophomoric.

• Jason Best, Movie Talk

  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.

• Todd Jorgenson, Cinemalogue.com

  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.

• Tina Hassannia, Slant Magazine

  Given the film's garrulous multitude of characters, one wishes they would all just shut up and sing.

• Jessica Kiang, The Playlist

  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.

• Marc Mohan, Oregonian

  Not content to make his point through sharp-tongued comedy, Hogan ends up beating a dead horse -- or shark, as the case may be.

• Brian Orndorf, Blu-ray.com

  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.

• Ethan Alter, Film Journal International

  A kooky comedy in which a spirited cast is almost suffocated by too-aggressive direction.

• Brent Simon, Shared Darkness

  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.

• Brian Tallerico, HollywoodChicago.com

  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.

• Roger Moore, Movie Nation

  Not every cute movie about the mentally ill is Oscar worthy, but this touching and riotous one from Down Under works well enough.

• Eddie Harrison, The List

  Collette anchors the film with a selfless, let-it-all-hang-out performance that sets an agreeably anarchic tone.

Read all 17 critic reviews