Watch the trailer for 'Mental'

Co-starring Anthony LaPaglia ('Without a Trace'), Liev Schrieber ('Wolverine') and Rebecca Gibney ('Packed to the Rafters'), 'Mental' comes across kind of like a whacked-out, modern-day Mary Poppins gone awry -- and this is a good thing.

Shaz (played by Collette) brings a healthy dose of 'I don't give a darn' attitude to a dysfunctional family of five girls and their emotionally absent father (played by LaPaglia), after their mother (played by Gibney) has a mental break down and goes on "holiday" to a mental health facility. Shaz's refreshing if somewhat shocking attitude and behaviour would appear to be just what the doctor ordered for this family.

We have to say the film looks like it's set to notch up that brand of quirky, left-of-centre comedy that Hogan made famous in 'Muriel's Wedding'. Admittedly the film's high-sense of comedy won't sit right with everyone, but we have our fingers crossed that this will be come the Aussie film that could.

SYNOPSIS

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 (Gibney) - unable to cope with her demanding daughters and unsupported by her philandering politician husband, Barry (LaPaglia) - 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 five teenage girls he barely knows. Desperate, he impulsively picks up a hitchhiker named Shaz (Collette) and installs her in his home as nanny to his daughters.

'Mental' opens in cinemas on October 4.