Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Good movie but grossly overrated

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

When her family throws out her old stuff away and proudly presents her a new bed Nan tells them that the old mattress they had thrown away had nearly 1 million euros in it. This makes them go on a quest to find the mattress. The movie is pretty hilarious and reminds me of the old classic It's a mad mad mad world. Only in this case the family looks for the mattress together, even though they are extremely dysfunctional and greedy (but then who wouldn't be knowing that there is a million somewhere you can soon use).The characters are very colorful and present us with many hilarious scenes. Like the lottery scene for example. Besides that there is this great connection between Nan and her granddaughter Emma. A recommendable movie. It is pretty hilarious to watch it wondering if they will find the mattress, where they will find it and if there is really all that money in it.

"Little Miss Sunshine", "Chocolat", maybe even the Japanese masterpiece "Kikujiro", and "Life's a Breeze". These are all excellent films that tell an entertaining story involving 3 generations, focusing mostly on the odd relationship between a 1st generation grandparent figure & a third generation teenager. In each case, the plot isn't what you'd call nail biting suspense, and in fact the stories themselves are pretty mundane. But the payoff is in the interesting views between old & young.By the way, if you haven't read the DVD back cover yet, then DON'T. It uses some phrases which I consider to be major spo!lers. Since the story itself is pretty simple, you'll probably have a better time if you know nothing about it. Let's just say it's about an urban adventure, set in Ireland (Dublin I assume?), involving a family of weirdos.The humor is pretty tame, no real laugh-out-loud zingers, but the entire presentation is so witty and light hearted that you'll probably find yourself with a good smirk planted on your face throughout.A subtle bonus is the way this film shows us the underbelly of Irish society, I'm talking about poor families, garbage dumps (literally), homeless hangouts and other unglamorous facets of life. And yet it doesn't hit you over the head with some preachy social message about it all. The scenes simply provide a contextual backdrop behind the story. Certainly a different approach than your typical glossy Hollywood fare.Although all performances were great, I'd say the show stealer was newcomer Kelly Thornton who was 15 years old during production. Apparently she was discovered while she was walking down the street. Director Lance Daly has a flair for finding "unprofessional" young actors and eliciting the greatest performances out of them. He did the same with his two young leads in his excellent 2008 film "Kisses" about two young runaways living on the streets of Dublin. Here he does the same with his young star, and the result is a genuine performance as only a non-actor can do.If you're a fan of the films I mentioned above, or any coming-of-age comedy dramas like "The Squid and the Whale" or another gem I recently saw called "The Way, Way Back", then don't hesitate to check this out. And recycle your trash! (watch the movie and you'll see what I mean)

I just finished watching this movie and I have to say that it's not always the movies with a high budget that are the best. I enjoyed this Irish dramady. The filming was simple but effective, no need for any spectacular scenes, just day-to-day shots out of the suburbs. All actors did a fine job, especially the grandmother played by Fionnula Flanagan and her grand-daughter Emma played by Kelly Thornton. The search for the missing money, the disbelief of nan's story, the different relationships between the family members all made it a nice movie to watch. There was enough subtle humor to bring a smile on my face every now and then. Certainly worth a watch.

Sweet messed up family get their lives thrown into chaos, and are all the better for it. Life's a Breeze, then we are the paper people that it blows around at it's whim. This is a well told story acted perfectly by all of the players. Not a big Hollywood movie, but it certainly just as good. The most beautiful moments of this movie are spent surrounded by rubbish, and gulls. I really Enjoyed the full cast of characters, and was really impressed at the way the country came together in spirit even if just for a small time. Ireland please keep making these great movies. I recommend this movie to anyone from young to old, there is someone in here for you to relate to, and others that you will feel you already know.