Mary and Max (2009)

User Rating:

8.3/10   

Director:

Adam Elliot

Writer:

Adam Elliot (writer)

Release Date:

9 April 2009 (Australia)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy | Drama

Plot:

A tale of friendship between two unlikely pen pals: Mary, a lonely, eight-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, and Max, a forty-four-year old, severely obese man living in New York.

Plot Keywords:

Friendship | Girl | Pen Pal | Atheist | Rooster

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Toni Collette	...	Mary Daisy Dinkle (voice)
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	Max Jerry Horovitz (voice)
Eric Bana	...	Damien (voice)
Barry Humphries	...	Narrator (voice)
Bethany Whitmore	...	Young Mary (voice)
Renée Geyer	...	Vera (voice)
Ian 'Molly' Meldrum	...	Homeless Man (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Flaus	...	(voice)
Julie Forsyth	...	(voice)
Michael Ienna	...	Lincoln
Chris Massey	...	Additional Voice
Shaun Patten	...	Additional Voice
Carolyn Shakespeare-Allen	...	Additional Voice
Leanne Smith	...	Additional Voice

Runtime:

Australia:80 min | Germany:92 min (Berlin International Film Festival)

Country:

Australia

Language:

English | Yiddish

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Australia:M | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Australia:PG (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Company:

Melodrama Pictures

Trivia:

The postage stamps in the film used by Mary feature an image of Dame Edna Everage, a character played by comedian Barry Humphries, who also narrates the film.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: After Max is admitted to the mental hospital, one of the medications he is prescribed is Zoloft. However, Zoloft was not introduced to the American market until 1991.

Quotes:

Narrator: [last lines] He smelt like licorice and old books, she thought to herself, as tears rolled from her eyes, the color of muddy puddles.

It's a genuine celebration of the value of difference.

Oscar winning (and proudly gay) animation artist Adam Elliot's acclaimed clay-mation feature film "Mary & Max" is astoundingly rewarding wonderful entertainment on the big screen.

It's an intriguing tale, starting in the mid seventies, of the ongoing true friendship of two long distance pen-pals, younger Mary in rural Australia and older Max in the rat-race of New York City. A significant element of the story involves Max's experience of living with Asperger Syndrome, knowing painfully full well that he senses the world in a radically different way to most. I've never seen any other project deal so honestly and powerfully with that condition. It's a genuine celebration of the value of difference.

There's lots to laugh and think about - and the attention to detail is staggering. Australia's living legend Barry Humphries excels as the narrator.

I loved the soundtrack which strongly featured two of my favourite Penguin Cafe Orchestra compositions. I've ordered the soundtrack CD already.