Review of Mary and Max (2009) by Kenneth L — 18 Mar 2011

I'm not even gonna lie - this movie made me cry like a little girl. Very, very few movies can achieve that, but this one did. Imagine the effect of the first ten minutes of Up, except for the whole movie. It just has poignant moment after poignant moment. It almost seems to be too much - you almost wish the movie would let up, but not quite.

It's a beautifully made claymation film, but don't let that trick you - under no circumstances should you show this to children. It's really dark, moreso than most live-action dramas. The story is about a chubby and unpopular little girl in Australia in the 1970s, Mary, who randomly picks a name out of a phonebook to be her pen pal. The pen pal she chooses, Max, is an obese, 44-year-old Asperger's sufferer who lives in New York City with his cat and fish. Bethany Whitmore gives a very good performance as the young Mary, and Toni Collette does a fine job as her adult voice. Philip Seymour Hoffman, complete with New York accent, gives an unbelievably good voice performance as Max, one of the best I've ever heard, and one that rivals Hoffman's work in live-action films.

Everything about the film's production is stunning. The movie adopts two slightly different artistic designs and cinematography styles for the worlds of its two lead characters, and both halves work very well. The musical theme is beautiful and memorable. The characters are almost all physically grotesque in a caricature-ish manner, but you like and sympathize with them anyway. The direction is lively and creative. Did I mention that the movie is also quite funny? The script is often hilarious in a poignant sort of way, and some of the silent behaviors of animals in the scenes are priceless.

Again, do not show this movie to children. It deals with some incredibly dark material, and would be extremely upsetting to them. But everyone else should absolutely check this movie out. It's on Netflix Instant in HD, so watch it as soon as you can.