Mary and Max (2009)

Mary and Max (2009) – An awkward eight year old from Australia becomes pen pals with a forty year old, overweight man in New York City with Asperger’s Syndrome.  Each of them finds a way through the challenges of their lives through the letters they share.

Director – Adam Elliott                              Starring – Philip Seymour Hoffman, Toni Collette, Barry                                                                                                   Humphries, Eric Bana

This stop action, animated film is, first and foremost, NOT a kids movie.  It is warm and gentle and heartfelt but it’s also a movie that can be a little uncomfortable at times.  All of the issues facing a person with Asperger’s, plus the issues of being an outcast child are explored here.  Plus depression, suicide, and alcoholism.

Sounds like fun, right?

At the same time, the movie has the amusing determination of a small child.  It has a story to tell and intends to march its way to the conclusion.  Barry Humphries narrates in the perfect “reading to a story to a child” voice while leading us through the delightfully just-off-center issues of the characters.  Philip Seymour Hoffman is exactly what we all came to expect from the late, great actor, simple perfection.  In collaboration with Australian actresses Bethany Whitmore and Toni Collette (who play the younger and older Mary Daisy Dinkle respectively), the movie creates a wonderful little world of two people desperately in search of love and acceptance.  That they find each other is a miracle.  Watching them make it work, and almost losing it all, was a truly enjoyable time.  It’s also filled with sly, little inside jokes.  The face on the stamps that Mary uses to send a letter looks a great deal like Barry Humphries alter-ego, Dame Edna Everage.  Director Adam Elliott has his name on a tombstone in one scene.  A cat shelter is named for, who else, T.S. Eliot.  It’s the kind of movie that would bear watching several times for many reasons.

As the tagline on the poster above says, “Sometimes perfect strangers make the best friends”

What I Liked About It – There is something about the combination of the very serious with the whimsical that appeals to me.  This is a brilliantly told story and I loved it.

What You Will Like About It – You’ll laugh and you will cringe in sympathy, and, at the very end, you will shed a tear.

Rating – **** Recommended