Das Leben ist ein Kinderspiel

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.

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.

Life's a Breeze is a small, family oriented drama from Ireland starring Fionnula Flanagan as a retired school teacher whose adult children decide to clean up their mom's house as a birthday present. The problem is, that with the stuff they throw out, is an old mattress with the old lady's life savings in it. Thus begins a wild goose chase to recover the missing money. Flanagan is great here, as she was previously in The Guard(a must see Irish comedy), and Kill the Irishman, an excellent true crime story. Her granddaughter, Emma(newcomer Kelly Thornton), is a breath of fresh air in her numerous scenes with Flanagan. The eighty minutes go by quickly and had me laughing and rooting for a happy outcome. The cast is all good and the script witty enough to make Life's a Breeze worth watching.

In Dublin, embarrassed teen Emma is told to accompany her grandmother Nan (Fionnula Flanagan) who lives with her idiot son Colm. It's actually an excuse for her adult kids to come and renovate her home without her knowledge. They throw out much of her belongings including her mattress. Unbeknownst to them, she had hidden her life savings in the mattress which amounts to about a million euros.

This is a black comedy Irish indie. I guess black comedy and Irish indie amount to the same thing. It's an endearing dysfunctional family headed by the magnetic Fionnula Flanagan. She does everything with little more than a look. She controls this movie from the sidelines. Additional praise for Pat Shortt who allows himself to be the butt of the joke. There is some heart, some humor, and some pathos. The running time is a little short and I wonder if the third act could handle another five minutes. This is fun little indie.

Enjoyed this movie immensely. I agree that some scenes were somewhat irrelevant. Pity there is not much bio on Emma on IMDb. Her last part about crediting Colm with finding the mattress is a beautiful act of kindness and clever psychology. I've been to Dublin twice, once in 1958 and again in 2006. The contrast and change between these two years in terms of scruffiness and graffiti is so disappointing. Nevertheless, there are many points in the city's favour and I would like to visit again. Like many Irish films, the dialogue (Irish accent) can be difficult to follow for our American cousins and those who do not have English mother tongue. Finally, I am curious as to what part of the movie was filmed in Sweden and why?