Mary and Max
{5/5} “When I was young, I invented an invisible friend called Mr. Ravioli. My psychiatrist says I don’t need him anymore, so he just sits in the corner and reads.”
Mary is an eight-year-old girl in Australia who picks Max’s name out of a New York phone book and writes him a letter. Mary has a pet rooster, likes the TV show “The Noblets,” and is neglected by her parents. Max is forty-four, trying to lose weight but eats a lot of chocolate hot dogs, and also likes “The Noblets.” Max decides to write back. Mary and Max have no other friends, but they become friends to each other.
Mary and Max was released in 2009. It’s a clay animated movie based on a true story.
The story starts in the 1970s. There’s a narrator — Mary and Max are often alone so this makes sense.
Eventually it’s revealed that Max has Asperger syndrome — it’s good to know something about this, as many people have it.
It’s a beautiful story — at times funny and tragic. The animation is astonishing. I encourage you to track down this movie if you haven’t seen it.
The fun music was written by Dale Cornelius (Till Human Voices Wake Us).
Toni Collette (Little Miss Sunshine) provides the voice of Mary and Philip Seymour Hoffman (Mission: Impossible III) the voice of Max. Barry Humphries (Finding Nemo) is the narrator.
The movie was directed by Adam Elliot (he’s directed some short films and this is his first full-length movie).