Mental
Dada Films | Release Date: March 29, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
42
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
9
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Total FilmOliver PfeifferMar 22, 2013
Packed with fine performances, this attack on suburban conformity is surprising, darkly hilarious and cleverly leaves the insanity judgement to its audience. Read full review
63
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreMar 22, 2013
Not every cute movie about the mentally ill is Oscar worthy, but this touching and riotous one from Down Under works well enough. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawMar 22, 2013
It's always a pleasure to see Collette, a performer who always cranks up the energy, and yet here, as so often, she gives the impression of a ferocious screen intelligence somehow not being used to the full. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianMarc MohanMar 28, 2013
Not content to make his point through sharp-tongued comedy, Hogan ends up beating a dead horse -- or shark, as the case may be. Read full review
58
The PlaylistJessica KiangMar 28, 2013
The more dramatic moments feel unanchored to the more farcical, and the humor ranges erratically from scatological to tender/heartwarming and back to cheap shots at slightly uncomfortable stereotypes. "Uneven" would be the kind way of putting it, but "messy" is probably nearer to the truth. Read full review
55
NPRStephanie ZacharekMar 28, 2013
Even though Hogan has some terrific actors to work with — Toni Collette and Liev Schreiber among them — it's never clear what he's trying to say or do with Mental. Read full review
50
New York PostLou LumenickMar 28, 2013
The hippie heroine of this wacky Aussie comedy cheerfully theorizes that Australia was actually originally settled not by convicts but by mental patients — which may possibly explain the antics of Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman, among others. Read full review
50
Village VoiceMarsha McCreadieMar 28, 2013
Mental skewers the easy-on and -off labels of psychiatry, but some sequences, particularly one of "bad dreams," are sophomoric. The movie's real mess-up was to move Shaz into melodrama at the movie's end. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierMar 30, 2013
The cutesy energy is just too much in this Aussie comedy that’s overly bemused by its quirkiness. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicRandy CordovaMar 28, 2013
There is a lot of yelling and emoting and it all gets strident very quickly — as in, the first 10 minutes. Hogan keeps everything self-consciously quirky, with lots of bright primary colors all over the place, but it feels like wild overkill. Read full review
40
Time OutSam AdamsMar 26, 2013
Once a scarred shark hunter (Liev Schreiber) enters the fray, the film’s tone shifts from madcap to maudlin, and the narrative from being merely grating to actually galling. Artistic inspiration can be close to madness, but Mental is just plain nuts. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinMar 28, 2013
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. Read full review
30
The New York TimesStephen HoldenMar 28, 2013
Mental wildly overplays the kookiness and quirk. Read full review
12
Slant MagazineTina HassanniaMar 29, 2013
Given the film's garrulous multitude of characters, one wishes they would all just shut up and sing. Read full review
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