Directed by:
Adam ElliotScreenplay:
Adam ElliotComposer:
Dale CorneliusCast:
Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Eric Bana, Barry Humphries, Bethany Whitmore, Christopher Massey, Julie Forsyth, Alf Klimek, Melanie CoombsVOD (1)
Plots(1)
Mary Daisy Dinkle (voiced by Toni Collette) is a lonely 8-year-old in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. Max Jerry Horovitz (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) is an obese 44-year-old with Asperger s Syndrome living in the chaos of New York City. Over the course of 20 years and 2 continents, their unusual journey of friendship will explore autism, taxidermy, alcoholism, where babies come from, kleptomania, sexual differences, trust, copulating dogs, religious differences, agoraphobia and more of life s big and little surprises. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (7)
In Mary and Max, the opposing barricades are almost distastefully literally manned on one side by the things I love about movies (and everything else) and on the other with everything I hate from the depths of my soul. Well, ladies and gentlemen, on the right side of the ring comes a flying circus of farting, expletives, boogers, and giant bird shit on people’s heads, abundantly assisted by an inability to work within the feature-length format, crowned by the utter adoration of defeatism and hideous and viewer-insulting emotional blackmail! A potent combination, but what do we have on the other side? Ahhhh, is that Mr. Phillip Seymour Hoffman? And next to him, beautiful pitch-black humor drawing from the social isolation of the characters and a little girl who, in order to shed a tear, has to recall a cat being run over by a lawnmower (a chokeworthy scene)? So in short: for every fart, there’s is a good joke = tied *** + Hoffman = ****, but it will be a while before I talk myself into another Elliot.
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In the minds of the overwhelming majority of viewers, the notion still persists that animated films are primarily for children and at most can have a cross-over appeal as a family entertainment for children's company. Adam Elliot's work defies this established classification, and his film Mary and Max is anything but a film intended for child audiences. It is a psychological drama that portrays the formation of friendship between two completely different individuals, who are only connected by their outsider status. A little girl from Australia, suffering from unwanted child syndrome, growing up in a family that can hardly be considered functional, and a solitary obese Jew suffering from a mental illness, both long for friendship and find it through letters addressed to a distant continent. The film sensitively and non-aggressively describes the emergence of an emotional bond and the ups and downs of their relationship. It is a very exclusive intimate film, intended more for contemplation than entertainment. At the same time, it is one of the peaks of contemporary animated film and evidence that animated cinema has fully emancipated itself on par with live-action films. In terms of emotions, Elliot excels at working with the natures of his characters and exposes them to a multitude of problems they must face. The number of mishaps concentrated in their lives would be enough for the entire staff of a sought-after psychiatrist or psychologist within a few days. Yet, Mary and Max manage to approach life with humor and contemplate, for example, whether a taxi driver who reverses owes money to the customer or vice versa. The visual aspect didn't completely capture my heart, but in terms of script and direction quality, the film deserves the best possible rating. Overall impression: 85%.
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Harvie Krumpeta's anecdotic and pitch-black morbid core stretched to a feature format and slightly diluted with infantility. Unfortunately, Elliot was unable to avoid the signs of self-purpose and cheapness, although even this time the atmosphere and the characters easily get under one’s skin. Mary and Max is one of the strangest cartoons you will ever see. The artistic aspects only strengthen the deformity and psychosis of the main characters, and it is therefore all the more beautiful to watch how the film produces pure and positive emotions. It’s just too bad about the occasional repetition and excessive eloquence.
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The beautiful story of the strong friendship between two outcasts of society, Max and Mary, is one of the sweetest cherries on the fruit cake of animation. The engaging and direct narrative style, fast-paced plot and great choice of music, along with the strong story, have stuck in my mind. In short, a masterpiece of filmmaking that managed to make me laugh, move and amaze me at the same time, which is a powerful combination for a film that is an hour and a half long.
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I believe that if an un-loquacious version of this existed, it would work equally as well as the “silencing" of Blade Runner. However, this way it is an outstanding movie that is utterly wrecked by overuse of the narrator. Even though quite soon there is no longer any reason for his existence, he drivels gloomily on and on. This absolutely ruins the atmosphere which is given a chance to pervade only in a few rare moments when at last there’s silence. And at those moments I would willingly award both Mary and Max five stars. But then the narrator opens the flood gates again and lets flow his prattle about nothing and the atmosphere is gone. Oh dear.
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Photo © Bioscop
![Mary and Max - Photos](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/159/415/159415386_6a6c09.jpg)
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