Mary and Max (2009)
Directed by Adam Elliot
Starring the voice of Toni Collette, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Eric Bana and Barry Humphries
Genre: Black comedy/drama
Let’s get one thing straight, first: Whatever you may think of claymation – the technique used by (among others) Aardman, creators of the whimsical Wallace and Gromit series and movie – Mary and Max is not for children. In fact, it’s not for the easily depressed either; there are some extremely sad plot points that will tug at your heartstrings, if you have any.
Little eight-year-old Mary’s parents don’t care about her, so one day, on a whim, she picks a name at random out of an American phone book to become her new pen pal. (How it ended up in Australia is a rather good, but irrelevant question.) The name she picks is Max Jerry Horowitz, and it belongs to a 44-year-old overweight man living in New York City.
Through most of the movie, narrated brilliantly by Barry Humphries, we learn about the characters of Mary and Max; how their parents slowly (though in one case, quite quickly) shuffle off the scene for both of them; how Max is diagnosed with a certain disease whose symptoms include anti-sociability and inability to read peoples’ face; and how both of them grow into best friends across the continents. Emotionally speaking, there are ups (and as it happens, more downs), but it never ceases to be entertaining.
The claymation style used in the film is very well-done, ranging from the sepia-toned Australia and Mary’s world, to a style that appropriately shows Max’s point of view of the world, stark black-and-white. There are some who think that the usage of this style indicates a kids-only movie, but this is not necessarily true, especially for this film; heavy themes are in place that would either sail over the heads of children, or are simply not appropriate for them: drug use (albeit heavy prescription drugs), depression, light sexual themes, even suicide and death. Make sure, also, that you have plenty of tissues on hand, especially towards the end.
If you want to see another movie that somewhat accurately depicts Asperger’s Syndrome, and is a poignant story besides, check it out. I’m giving this one five out of five!