Product Details

• Actors: Ben Mendelsohn, Barry Otto, Toni Collette, Rachel Griffiths, Aden Young
• Directors: Mark Joffe
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Walt Disney Video
• VHS Release Date: April 6, 1999
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304681542
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #37,330 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
This is another one of those Cuckoo's Nest mental patient liberation stories, but with a clever "let's put on a show" twist. A group of melancholy Australian patients dares to pull off a theatrical version of Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte. This film adaptation of Louis Nowra's play is quite absurd and quite erratic, yet quite affecting in the second half when the patients finally commit to the quixotic project. But how to relate to Mozart's 1790 opera about true love? By identifying with the theme of infidelity as a therapeutic exercise. And how do they pull of this madcap farce? By relying on their ability to pretend, of course. This is most difficult for the unimaginative and uncaring director (Mendelsohn), who finds himself in a life-imitates-art conflict with his curt girlfriend and a damaged yet flirtatious patient. However, it is the passionate patient (Otto) who won't let Cosi die who is the film's emotional center. He's a neurotic perfectionist and a delusional addict--a sad, desperate man with a dream to show the world how to love and be loved. --Bill Desowitz

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Been there, done that, got the t-shirt!, May 3, 1999

By A Customer

I love this movie! I am Australian and you may think that makes me biased, but I'm not a great fan of all Australian movies. Having worked in another Psychiatric Hospital very near to the one where this was filmed, I can vouch for the characterization of the patients and staff. I saw exact replicas of patients I'd known, and yes a lot of them really do act like that. No-one gave a bad performance but the three knockout actors were Jackie Weaver( Cherry), Barry Otto (Roy) and David Wenham (Doug). We don't make many formula movies in Australia-we leave that up to Hollywood ,but if you like something different, offbeat and gritty and you're a fan of movies like Strictly Ballroom, Priscilla or Muriel's Wedding, you'll love this. I found it hilariously funny but also touching in a not-so soppy way.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars one flew over the galahs nest..., June 19, 2000

By	"masonx" (Auckland, New Zealand.) - See all my reviews

A poignant and touching australian comedy drama which I highly recommend to film buffs out for some much needed relief from sci-fi, action films and special effects. The story centres around Lewis, a young sydneysider who half-heartedly applies for a job as an occupational therapist in a Sydney mental hospital, and gets it at he toss of a coin, literally. His main brief is to organise a variety show for the patients but this is immediately suborned by one persistent resident who insists they instead perform Mozart's complicated romance"Cosi fan Tutte". Thereby he is introduced to an interesting cast of characters each with their own phobias, psychoses and hangups. This and his own relationship worries with partner Lucy do not make life any easier. Enough said.

Lewis' cast is comprised of the usual suspects. Roy a manic esthete with a thirst for stage exposure, the painfully shy but suicidal Ruth, Doug the young foul-mouthed pyromaniac and Julie, the recovering drug addict played by a svelte Toni Collette almost unrecognizable from her 'Muriel' role. Cuckoos Nest this is not although the film does lend itself to the same theme. That united with people with whom we would otherwise not associate for a common cause, imperfect as they may be is uplifting in itself. Dealing with wilful mental patients like Roy and the violently agressive Cherry who have their own ideas about stage direction, Lewis fears for his own safety but before he quits suddenly realises that for all their idiosyncracies he really does like the misfits and decides to give it his best shot. Having worked in a psychiatric institution I found the portrayals well researched and not over the top as has been suggested. Also endearing was the head nurse, Errol who despite his burnt out approach and not looking out of place with a fag in his mouth really did show he cared. My only gripe is that Toni Collette was underused especially with that marvellous voice.Well, more kudos to the aussies for a job well done, and this from a kiwi! Save this one for a rainy day, or better yet give the disappointing MI2 a miss and rent Cosi out for the night. You wont be disappointed.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic...I love this movie!, January 28, 2006

By	Karen V. (Manassas, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cosi (DVD)

This is a wonderfully touching movie! I've watched it several times over and simply love it each time. It's funny...it's sad...it's human...it's life. As moving as this story is, I don't recommend it for children due to the language. On my scale of buy, or not to buy...definitely a buy!

This is the story of a young man (Lewis), an amateur theatre director, who's just having the devil of a time figuring out his life. He looses his job and reluctantly takes a position as an activities director in a government-run program for the rehabilitation of people with varying degrees of mental illness.

As activites director, Lewis is tasked with organizing a seriously dysfunctional group of mentally ill individuals to put on a show to justify the funding and existance of the program. He's absolutely horrified when introduced to his "charges" and wants nothing to do with the project. He's persuaded to take on the challenge, and the adventure of a lifetime begins. As hard as Lewis tries to stay emotionally detached from his cast, he finds he can't help but let them into his life. To his surprise, the closer he gets to them the more he learns about himself, his own life, and life in general.

For their presentation, the group decides they want to do a play and pick Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte. I don't think this particular production was quite what Mozart had in mind for his play! What could go wrong? Oh my! What couldn't go wrong?!?! Everything you can think of happens during the rehearsals and the actual presentation of the play. The actors are trained well though, and the show goes on to finish...and...what a finish it is!

The sadness, humor and frailty of each character portrayed in this movie is just fantastic. The acting is superb. The directing excellent. This is just an all around good movie.