This mordantly amusing tale of family dysfunction from the creator of TV's Nip/Tuck is so outrageous that it's hard to believe it's based on a real-life memoir. Charting the 1970s upbringing of US writer Augusten Burroughs (who appears as himself in the closing titles), the highly stylised movie is a patchwork of his formative childhood experiences, held together by juicily idiosyncratic performances. Joseph Cross is sweetly engaging as the adolescent Augusten, who struggles with identity issues after his wannabe-poet mother (Annette Bening) sends him to live with her madcap psychiatrist (Brian Cox) while she finds her creative voice. The shrink's own clan - including dog snack-munching wife Jill Clayburgh and alleged telepath Gwyneth Paltrow - are hilariously unconventional, camouflaging the film's lack of emotional depth with their eccentricities. It's only in the downbeat final third that the narrative's overall lack of structure becomes apparent, though fortunately the dialogue retains its enjoyable sharpness amid the gloom.

Young Augusten Burroughs absorbs experiences that could make for a shocking memoir: the son of an alcoholic father and an unstable mother, he's handed off to his mother's therapist, Dr. Finch, and spends his adolescent years as a member of Finch's bizarre extended family.