This review may contain spoilers.
First of all, to all the people saying that anybody writing negative comments about the lack of organization, plot, clarity, etc just "don't understand mental illness or living with somebody with mental illness", please stop. You are only making yourselves sound foolish. I have family members that have lost their lives due to mental illness, and it is much more complex and can be much, much darker than this movie portrays. So you yourselves are the ones that don't get it.
And as for the film itself, it is like it never got out of the brainstorming phase. I say it had potential because of the talented actors, but this movie had no idea where it was going. Shaz starts off as a pothead, then they just leave that aspect out of rest of the movie. Well, until the very end, but you would thought maybe they could have a scene with the kids,father's campaign, etc. Kind of like in brainstorming, you start with an idea, but then forget about it.
Also, one moment the crazy aunt seems like she is going to show remorse and change, but then she doesn't. The father seems as if he might change, but he doesn't. The two scenes at the aquarium could have just been one scene. Maybe it is titled mental because it keeps going on in circles with no true progress and that can be a challenge of dealing with mental illness, but I didn't need to spend almost two hours of my life watching a non-fiction movie with no plot that succeeds on about two of thirty attempts at humor to confirm that. I would have preferred a documentary.
And as for the whole Sound of Music parody, OK. I can not make a complete connection with the overall intention of the film, except maybe to get viewers from old Sound of Music fans.
First of all, to all the people saying that anybody writing negative comments about the lack of organization, plot, clarity, etc just "don't understand mental illness or living with somebody with mental illness", please stop. You are only making yourselves sound foolish. I have family members that have lost their lives due to mental illness, and it is much more complex and can be much, much darker than this movie portrays. So you yourselves are the ones that don't get it.
And as for the film itself, it is like it never got out of the brainstorming phase. I say it had potential because of the talented actors, but this movie had no idea where it was going. Shaz starts off as a pothead, then they just leave that aspect out of rest of the movie. Well, until the very end, but you would thought maybe they could have a scene with the kids,father's campaign, etc. Kind of like in brainstorming, you start with an idea, but then forget about it.
Also, one moment the crazy aunt seems like she is going to show remorse and change, but then she doesn't. The father seems as if he might change, but he doesn't. The two scenes at the aquarium could have just been one scene. Maybe it is titled mental because it keeps going on in circles with no true progress and that can be a challenge of dealing with mental illness, but I didn't need to spend almost two hours of my life watching a non-fiction movie with no plot that succeeds on about two of thirty attempts at humor to confirm that. I would have preferred a documentary.
And as for the whole Sound of Music parody, OK. I can not make a complete connection with the overall intention of the film, except maybe to get viewers from old Sound of Music fans.