The animated story of two loners on opposite sides of the world, brought together by chance and the allure of chocolate hotdogs.
“As Mary grew taller, Max grew wider, their friendship becoming stronger”. What to say about Mary and Max, a monumental film that arouses my confusion as to why I have only just watched it. A powerful and unique piece of art; the animation is kind of creepy but oddly alluring and beautifully grotesque, with a dark undertone and a quirkiness to it.
The film explores many hard-hitting themes that are a worrying problem on today’s society: childhood neglect, friendship, addiction, alcoholism, recovery, the obscurity and mundanity of life, bullying, crippling loneliness, the struggles of mental illness, autism (more specifically Asperger’ syndrome), obesity, suicide, depression, isolation, and anxiety. Now, that is a cocktail for the truest of bleak hearted individuals, but Mary and Max explores them in such a way that it becomes joyous; completely endearing, and with such relatability. I wish my problems were animated so they could look a lot more magical.
This whimsical story is based on the relationship that director Adam Elliot had with his own pen pal for 20 years. Elliot’s pen pal was also a New York native and lived with Asperger’s, the emotion that resonates in the film is clearly reminiscent of his own experiences. Mary and Max was also lifted by its wonderful cast of acting anomalies, the great Phillip Seymour Hoffman voices the eccentric Max; the equally great Toni Collette (a personal favourite of mine) voices an adult Mary – with Bethany Whitmore as young Mary. And another thing, Australian comedy legend Barry Humphries (Dame Edna Everage to more mainstream audiences) has the job of The Narrator, pulling it all together with his captivating voice. It’s funny really, the film is simple in narrative, too simple even, but then you meet these lovable characters who dictate this film at their whim; their honesty and outlandishness, their emotional tone, and hardships make them perfect for this magical film.
We are first introduced to Mary Daisy Dinkle (Whitmore), a lonely 8-year-old girl from Australia. Mary is just the cutest and most precious little soul, she comes from a broken home with an alcoholic mother and an absent father, bullied at school and without friends – you weep for her. Mary’s mother, Vera Lorraine Dinkle (Renée Geyer) is like a pantomime villain with outfit to boot, like the wicked stepmother.
One day whilst at the post office with her mother – who is also a kleptomaniac – she randomly rips an address out of the phonebook, hoping to find a new friend, that address belongs to the one and only Max. Max Jerry Horowitz (Hoffman) lives in New York, he is a morbidly obese Jewish man with Asperger’s syndrome, he also struggles with loneliness, addiction, and crippling anxiety. Max is a complex yet simple man with a simple life, which is complicated by his autism, he finds solace in his newfound friendship with his comrade across the globe.
The two send letters to each other about their respective lives, Max literally describes his whole life to the young girl, every tiny detail – he can be quite descriptive without knowing it. The wicked Vera does not approve of Max’s letters and their blossoming friendship, but the crafty little Mary always manages to navigate around this problem with ease.
After Mary asks Max about love and sex – she has a crush on her Greek neighbour Damien Popodopoulos, voiced by Eric Bana – Max has a severe anxiety attack and he needs to be craned (yes, craned) out of his flat and institutionalized for 8 months! On Max’s return to his normal life, he wins the lottery and completes two of his life goals; a lifetime supply of chocolate (superb decision my friend) and the complete Noblet collection (whatever they are) and gives the rest to his blind neighbour Ivy, who went out the best way you can really, death by jetpack. Superb by the old girl. In the meantime, Mary went to university and wrote a book about Max, hoping to use the money from sales to visit Max in New York. However, with Max’s anxieties through the roof, as well as him disapproving of said book, Mary’s plan could be over before it even begins.
I really loved Mary and Max, what a unique piece of art it truly was. Beautiful characters surrounded by a simple yet affirming and poignant story, it covers so many emotions; from humour to sadness, and even wheezing (an inside joke). The hours spent working on this film alone means you must respect the craft anyway, but the fact that it was bold and brash with a subtle quirky flavour gives it such a uniqueness, offering up an experience like no other.
It was tough to find negatives for this film, but there was one big one which bugged me; I struggled to hear certain bits of dialogue and narration because of the music at times, it overpowered the voice on more than one occasion and ruined the moment for me, such a shame. However, the film is still fabulously engrossing, coupled with its dark tone and an ending that would make the hardest of men weep like blubbering little girls. A truly momentous film to say the least.
Mary and Max is available to watch on Amazon Prime now.
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