Maidgethma Wonderfully offbeat film!

Brightlyme i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Fulke Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

quinimdb The wrinkly and awkward design of the characters and settings, as well as the dry dull color palette in "Mary and Max" gives the film a gross, clunky texture, and I wouldn't want it any other way, because, like the characters themselves, the animation style's (intentional) imperfection is what makes it so charming.The film's premise is simple, but the emotional complexity of the characters get the premise a long way. A 9 year old Australian girl sending a letter to a 44 year old obese man in New York out of curiosity, but mainly out of loneliness, and it just so happens that the very person she contacts is just as lonely and confused as she is. Almost the whole movie is done in voice over, much of it by a narrator and the rest by the main two characters, since all of their interactions are through letters and not physical dialogue, and much of what they are saying and thinking is animated to accompany the voice over. But even the narrator has a distinctive character to it, and Still, Philip Seymour Hoffman is able bring life into this idiosyncratic character of Max, fully embodying all his sincerity in every word, despite an inability to physically communicate his emotions. The effect of the visualization of the voice-over is a somewhat storybook- like tone to the film. But despite seemingly like a film intended for children on the surface, it reaches into the subjects of depression, childhood trauma, and living with a mental disability. While it treats these subjects with as much respect and seriousness as they deserve, at the core of the film is, of course, the sweet friendship between Mary and Max, and how they each serve as a solace; someone they can understand and depend on in a world filled with unpredictability. Because they each knew there would always be a friend that could appreciate them even with all their imperfections, they were both able to accept themselves for who they were, warts and all.

Anssi Vartiainen A movie such as this one is a rare treat. A completely original - albeit inspired by the director's own life - movie from a first-time feature-length director that completely blows you away with its uniqueness, wit and charm. Mary and Max tells the story of its titular characters. Mary being a lonely Australian girl living with her two dysfunctional parents. One of them an alcoholic and the other a complete shut-in practically living in the backyard shed. One day Mary, on a childish whim, decides to write to a random American person. Except that the person on the other side decides to write back. He's Max, an obese forty-something man living alone in New York and suffering from crippling mental health problems.Sound creepy and depressing? Yeah, it does. And yet the thing is, this is one of the most heartwarming and sympathetic movies I've seen in my life. It's also one of the funniest. It is said that something cannot be funny without someone suffering. And boy is that true here. The film's humour is amazingly dark, drawing most of its laughs from the sheer dysfunctionality of its characters and their feeble attempts at improving their lot in life. And yet... yet it is never mean spirited. Mary and Max suffer, that much is true, but they very rarely let it get to them. And when they do, it's a genuinely sorrowful moment because at that point it's more than earned. And thus the movie is about living your life and finding happiness despite everything standing in your way. It's about individuality, about human worth, about friendship and the purpose of caring.It's also phenomenally well-made. It's stop-motion clay animation from start to finish with heavy emphasis being put on the use of colour, facial animation and stuff actually being there. And it looks gorgeous. A true testament to the strength of craftsmanship in this age of computer effects.Mary and Max is a true masterpiece. A film juggling both light and dark, examining both the best and worse qualities of human existence, all with a kind voice and a gentle laugh. A film no one's going to regret seeing.

lethal_smile This Aussie animation is one of the best animation made. It has humour, drama and a message. After I watched this I started looking for more films directed by Adam Elliot but unfortunately, he hasn't directed anything else apart from some short films which were funny too.I love dark animation with adult humour and sadly there are not many out there. People do admire it, example is Family Guy but we need variety, different humour and this film delivers that. Hopefully Mr Elliot is working on a new project and there will be another animation to come as this film is far by one of my most favourite animation of all time as it makes you laugh most of the time, makes you cry and most importantly makes you think. Highly recommended !!

Georgi Dianov Georgiev The Lumière brothers should be proud of Max and Mary (2009) - Top Rated Movies #179. At the end of the day, they created 'cinema' so that it develops to such a degree that it brings us masterpieces like this animation-comedy-drama. In here, observers get satisfied with three components: the art of clay animation/ Claymation (1), the 'admirable and sudden' friendship between Mary Daisy Dinkle and Max Jerry Horovitz (2), along with all unexpected and comical idiomatic expressions (3), such as "Mary Dinkle's eyes were the colour of muddy puddles. Her birthmark, the colour of poo." or "Butts are bad because they wash out to sea, and fish smoke them and become nicotine-dependent". And, in addition to this, spectators are also able to enjoy the way in which these two characters cultivate their friendship following the antiquated "letter-box-way", without any kind of technology. Surely, the beauty of Adam Elliot's 92 minutes comes from the latter perspective.It is intriguing to take part of the 'reading letters' connection between Australia (Mary) and the United States (Max) now that societies have changed their ways of communicating. Perhaps, if they have used Skype or WhatsApp, it would not have been as accurate as it ended being. It is undoubtedly much better the way they imagine the other with letters, pictures and sweets, than sending videos or sharing mobile calls. To put it briefly, this movie is like a book, and if it was made with the latest trends of XXI century, it was going to be like any Netflix series. However, because of the fact that each of them is located in the back of beyond, cinema-goers are under pressure all movie long. Who does not want to see these two weirdos together? It would have been great, would not it? Notwithstanding, despite their unhappy and boring lives (we all have our own problems in this busy world) they find enough time to write and share their stories. Nowadays, the world is full of 'plastic people' and one never know if it is better to share some story with a relative or acquaintance than with someone in the boonies. As it says at the end of the film, "God gives us our relatives, thank God we can choose our friends." (Ethel Watts Mumford), which clearly means that sometimes it is even better to choose a stranger because of all the trouble one could receive and save from a closer friend. To conclude, it should be pointed out that plenty of every-day-life personalities are shown during the movie. We all have met, or even are currently dealing with that elderly man or woman, that beggar, the presumptuous lady, the people at the bus station, the typical neighbour, and on and on. They are all pawns in our daily basis – they just seem to be the responsible ones for some of our actions. Despite that, we truly need to concentrate in the ones that make us 'happy' and fulfilled, like it does Max or Mary, because we are all strange and the only thing we need is to find the ones that are ready to jump on the same train – our soul mate. P.S. My rating is 10 out of 10. P.P.S. "Scent of a Woman" (1992) was my favourite movie. P.P.P.S. Mary and Max it is now replacing its place.