Shirley Moochmore (Rebecca Gibney) is a mother of five suffering under her absentee cheating husband Barry (Anthony LaPaglia). She wants to be Maria Von Trapp with her kids. All five of the kids think they are mentally ill although maybe one of them actually is. Barry is the small town mayor of Dolphin Heads. When he sends her to a mental institution, he picks up hitchhiker Shaz (Toni Collette) to look after his kids. The oldest daughter Coral (Lily Sullivan) has a wacky shark-obsessed boss Trevor (Liev Schreiber) at the waterpark.
Writer/director P.J. Hogan reunites with Toni Collette to bring an outlandish sensibility to this Australian suburb. As Shaz points out, everybody suffers from one form of mental illness or another. I like all 5 girls and I love Toni Collette. The start is a little bit problematic as we wait for the arrival of Toni. Her time with the girls is fun and quirky. It has an uplifting sense. Everything is going as expected, but the movie does take a turn into the darker side. I'm not oppose to the turn, but it is very jarring. And like other Hogan films, there is a couple of singalong moments.
Writer/director P.J. Hogan reunites with Toni Collette to bring an outlandish sensibility to this Australian suburb. As Shaz points out, everybody suffers from one form of mental illness or another. I like all 5 girls and I love Toni Collette. The start is a little bit problematic as we wait for the arrival of Toni. Her time with the girls is fun and quirky. It has an uplifting sense. Everything is going as expected, but the movie does take a turn into the darker side. I'm not oppose to the turn, but it is very jarring. And like other Hogan films, there is a couple of singalong moments.