Movie Two Hundred Twelve
Mary and Max is about a lonely Australian girl finds a pen pal in New York and the two become lifelong friends.
Mary Daisy Dinkel (Bethany Whitmore and Toni Collette) is a young girl living in Australia. She is unpopular and ridiculed and has an unstable family life. She decides to write to a pen pal in New York City and finds Max Jerry Horowitz (Philip Seymour Hoffman), an older, autistic man that is also an outcast from society. The two remain pen pals for many years and as an adult, Mary studies psychology and writes a book about Max and his disorders, which angers Max. After Max decides to forgive Mary, she decides to travel to New York to finally meet her best friend.
Admittedly, I left a lot of the finer details of the plot out of my synopsis which may make Mary and Max seem like a fun-going movie about friendship but it doesn’t detail some of the darker points of the film. The film, although claymation, is not for kids but it is a very surprising and touching story. I have seen very few films that deal with life in such a way that Mary and Max does. It is slightly comical but also very realistic and ultimately endearing. At first, the characters seem a bit off-putting but then the film gives them such personality that you feel for even the weirdest of characters, and boy are some of them odd.
I have dreaded writing this review for Mary and Max for one reason: the ending made me sob like a baby for nearly 30 minutes after the credits had ended. I just sat there staring at the Netflix menu after the film was long over and my heart just ached for the characters. The reason I was so affected by the film I will not get into, but I was never expecting to be so touched by Mary and Max. The animation and story are both so unique that it may give a different impression if you are used to Wallace and Gromit, Mary and Max may strike you as incredibly odd but try to stick with it. The oddities of the animation and characters are weird but endearing.
While I would struggle to make it through a second viewing any time soon, I would instantly recommend Mary and Max to everyone. The film does not shy away from various mature subjects while maintaining it’s great animation style. Mary and Max is one of the bigger surprises of the year for me.
I give it 4 chocolate hot dogs out of 5.
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Great review and a very touching story with two characters you start to really care for.
Thanks – I really wasn’t expecting to be so touched by the characters just from looking at them
Sounds interesting, but it’s an adult conversing with a child. Does Chris Hanson make an appearance?
Hahaha although it’s an adult and a child, Mary and Max are emotionally about the same age. Mary’s parents are put off by the age difference, but Max is not interested in Mary in any way whatsoever except as a friend. It makes more sense in the context of the film…
I love this movie. Easily one of my favorites that I’ve reviewed. It touches on so many issues in a very careful and sympathetic way. You may need some time, but it is definitely just as good a second time around.
I would like to revisit this one eventually because I know the finer points will be worth revisiting but I really don’t think I could do it any time soon.
I’ve got to admit up front that I am a sucker for any film that makes me sob at the ending. *Of course, I do still cry at the end of E T.* The only film I’ve never been able to watch a second time was Milliion Dollar Baby. That film practically put me in suicidal mode. Great Review as always mate! 🙂
You should give this one a shot, Mike! I was able to make it through Million Dollar Baby twice in a few weeks time, but I was fairly desensitized the second time through…This one I’m not so sure I could “tune out” the sadness
Glad to read more reviews on this Andy. I seen it myself earlier in te year and I absolutely loved it. Such touching little storyline. I gave it 4 1/2 stars. Great review my man.
Yeah, your review inspired me to actually sit down and watch this one!
Aaah! Glad to hear I had some influence there Andy. Even more happy that you enjoyed it. Cheers buddy.
Wow! I have never even heard of this movie. But I will definitely look for it now.
P.S. I think it took a lot of guts to publicly state your reaction to the end of the movie. 🙂
Definitely seek it out!
I have no shame about crying, I think it’s a sign of a good (or manipulative) movie
True. It’s a rare film that can move a person to tears.
Great review. Thanks for being honest about your 30-minute crying episode. The last (and pretty much only) time I’ve been so moved by a movie was with 127 Hours.
I’ve got no qualms about confessing my crying – I was surprised at how much this affected me, actually
I don’t think you should feel too bad crying at the ending of this movie. It’s a really touching story.
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This has been in my queue for like a year. It’s one of those I feel I have to be in the right mindset for.
Yeah, you need to be ready for it, I had it in my queue for a long time too