Dvd
Mary and Max
Animated comedy-drama from Adam Elliot, the director of Oscar-winning short Harvie Krumpet (2003). It's the tale of two unlikely pen pals: Mary Dinkle (Toni Collette), a lonely eight-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, and Max Horovitz (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a forty-four-year-old, severely obese Jewish man living with Asperger's syndrome in New York. Spans a twenty year period, charting the ups and downs of their lives.
Starring Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Eric Bana, Barry Humphries
Directed by Adam Elliot ('Harvie Krumpet')
Written by Adam Elliot
Drama, Comedy, Animated | 1hr 20mins | Rated (PG) | contains sexual references | Origin: Australia | Official Site »
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The Talk
3 votes / No comments
Flicks review
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4
This is the feature film debut from Adam Elliot, whose Oscar-winning short film Harvie Krumpet set him on the trail of loveable eccentrics. His latest project targets Mary and Max, two exceptional losers leading a mundane existence on the fringe of society, finding solace in their heartfelt pen-pal letters to each other.
The stop-motion animation features an array of grotesque faces, each revealing comical yet sad-sack personalities. Mary (voiced by Toni Collette) is a frumpy, lonely young girl living in a sepia-tinted Melbourne, while Max Horovitz (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a forty-four-year-old, severely obese Jewish man living with Asperger's syndrome in a black and white New York. Their longing for a kindred spirit leads to an ongoing correspondence with each other over the following 20 years, revealing the minutiae of each other’s lives, rich with black humour and visual wit.
There’s plenty of narration (almost constant) courtesy of Barry Humphries, giving the feel of a children’s tale, but this isn’t for kids. The film doesn’t shy away from covering some mature topics, broaching sexuality, suicide and mental illness yet never becomes heavy or depressing. On the contrary, Mary and Max is a real delight, constantly amusing and deeply moving. I strongly recommend.
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The people's reviews
4 reviews
Press Reviews
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In Film (Australia)
Fiercely independent and intensely personal, this is an emotionally affecting tale of friendship that just happens to be crafted entirely out of clay. It’s without a doubt the first very good Australian film of 2009.
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NZ Herald (Francesca Rudkin)
4
A memorable, original, offbeat adult animation.
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Urban Cinefile (Australia)
As a Sundance opener and an official Berlin film fest entry, the film clearly has creative credentials, but I'm not sure what segment of the public, other than committed festival customers, will find it wholly satisfying. There is heartbreak aplenty, but we not so much feel it as intellectually absorb it; there is humour aplenty, too, but it's bottled up, so we can recognise it, without laughing at it. I wanted to laugh and cry - and should have.
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