Review of Mary and Max (2009) by Paul L — 28 Jun 2011

A beautiful portrayal of being an outsider in an uncompromising and sometimes harsh world, Adam Elliot's dark comedy "Mary and Max" showcases a blossoming friendship between an Aspie who's proud to be "unique" despite having the world around him pretty much label him as a creepy mental degenerate and a nerdy little girl who somehow runs into the worst of situations (not to mention her really depressing family life).

The voice acting is actually really good. Unlike some voice acting, which comprises of actors simply reading lines from a sheet of paper and practically playing themselves (I'm looking at you, George Clooney), this goes back to the old days of cartoon dialogue - where it was actually treated like it was a big deal...because it is. I don't think this movie would've worked as well as it could have if it didn't have the voice talent it possessed in the end. It feels real - the fine line between an amateur reading and a professional reading. It could also be that Toni Collette and Philip Seymour Hoffman have played outcasts before - lest we forget "Little Miss Sunshine" AND "Happiness"?

The mise-en-scene of the film is comprised of a whole bunch of greys, with touches of red here and there (tongues, pom-poms, hair clips, candy bar wrappers, etc.). The only time the film breaks said color scheme is whenever we see some silly cartoon on TV (the cartoon Mary and Max bond over) or a dream sequence (Max on an island; Mary marrying a dude named Earl Grey in Scotland). This makes their bleak world much more discriminating than what they (and we) would like to see it - Max's world is full of the things he despises while Mary's world is about as standstill as her family and social life.

We like to think that this sort of social ignorance can only happen in these films - that the world is like a happy Capra-esque paradise where we all comply to social norms and we get along, singing "Kumbaya" and all. However, what we tend to forget is that no matter how much you can say the world is perfect, there's always imperfection. For every Barack Obama and Clint Eastwood, you get a Timbox and a Woody Allen - people that society would rather understand as creeps rather than ambitious people they seem themselves as. Yes, the film kind of likes celebrating the outcast - but here, rather than simply throwing out the outcast or relegating it to accidental comic relief while showing a portrait of how all autists really act (I'm looking at you, "Rain Man"), it shows what it's really like for those who try to communicate with the outside. Yes, obsessions are bad, but sometimes, these obsessions are the only things we can hold on to as our dreams fall apart every waking day.

Also, noting Max's anger at Mary exploiting his condition as something bad in need of a cure, you can say that's kind of justified. After all, we're all unique - and taking our individuality away is kind of like having a Ludovico treatment performed on us. There's a reason why "A Clockwork Orange" exists - and I'm not trying to condone rape. Simply curing Max isn't going to help - he's lived so long without really understand human emotion, he probably wouldn't understand it if he were cured. It's like expecting a deaf person to fully understand music - you can't exactly teach an old dog the basics after they've learned to cope without them.

This film, while employing the same humor as Wes Anderson's early films, doesn't feel as removed from the world as "The Royal Tenenbaums" and "Rushmore" - it merely draws the viewer into a world that has shunned these two beautiful outcasts because they simply cannot understand them. Kids shun Mary because she looks different (and she hasn't the courage to tell her class that her parents pretty much ignore her) and NYC shuns Max (or rather, labels him a "retard") because he cannot get his worlds across quite effectively.

I'm trying to express in words how much this film has touched me, but I just can't. This film is really powerful, not to mention quite unique in its artistry. Along with "Fantastic Mr. Fox," I'd have to say that this is one of the best films of all time, not just 2009. Never have I seen an Anderson-influenced film that actually goes away from mimicking the style of Wes Anderson in place of something a little more different.

I thank Adam Elliot for making something that represents our frail, dark world a lot more than any film noir or "autism expose" could do.