Mary and Max — movie review

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Chris Nelson

The other night Kris and I watched the stop-motion animation picture, Mary and Max. I don’t have time to write a full review, but the picture, written and directed by Harvey Krumpet’s Adam Elliot, was something amazing. In a time where I have fallen asleep during more movies than I’ve completed (I’ll write an article later), Mary and Max held my attention throughout.

Mary and Max documents the years long pen-pal friendship between a nerdy 8 year-old little girl from Australia, and an 40 year-old adult male with Asberger’s syndrome in New York. Their exchange of letters explore topics, while usually focusing on chocolates and the odd characters they’ve encountered in their personal lives, serve to explore loftier concepts, from the inescapable nature of family, to the saving grace of friendship, to the presence or absence of God and fate, an onward through all the strange, ugly, and beautiful aspects of human nature.

In addition to being amazingly stop-animated, Mary and Max has some decent star power. Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Eric Bana all lend their voices to the project, and surprisingly all are completely unrecognizable in their speaking roles. This is actually quite wonderful, as you’re never pulled out of the magic of the story by any perception of star power, but simply left to delight at their amazing delivery.

I loved Mary and Max. It’s a beautiful, sad, darkly comedic tale, that is at once tragic and strangely heartwarming. It’s one little picture that deserves to be watched more than once. If you haven’t already, be sure to check it out.

About the Author

Chris Nelson has been a film fanatic since well before he can remember. A former film and English major, he is now a Software Engineer and contract Technical Writer living in the Silicon Valley.