Mary and Max (2009)

A tale of friendship between two unlikely pen pals: Mary, a lonely, eight-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, and Max, a forty-four-year old, severely obese man living in New York.

Director:

Adam Elliot

Writer:

Adam Elliot

Stars:

Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Eric Bana

Top Rated Movies #187 | 4 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christopher Massey	...	911 Operator / Ambulance Voice / Derisive Observer (voice) (as Chris Massey)
Oliver Marks	...	Alleyway Bully One (voice)
Daisy Kocher	...	Alleyway Bully Two / Bird Injury Girl / Bus Stop Girl / Katherine Ramsay (voice)
Daniel Marks	...	Alleyway Bully Three (voice)
Hamish Hughes	...	Animals (Miscellaneous) / Mad Jury Member / Opera Singer Two (voice)
Dan Doherty	...	BMX Bandit (voice)
Julie Forsyth	...	Bus Stop Mother / Kissing Woman (voice)
Mandy Mao	...	Cher the Chihuahua / Sonny the Chihuahua (voice)
Eric Bana	...	Damien Popodopolous (voice)
Patrick McCabe	...	Datsun Sunny Driver (voice)
Adam Elliot	...	Dr. Bernard Hazelhof / Garbo Two / Grandpappy Ralph / Ivan Ruby Bevan / Mr. Ravioli / Postmaster / Runover Kitten / Worm (voice)
Mr. Peck	...	Ethel the Rooster (voice)
Michael James Allen	...	Ferrari Driver (voice) (as Michael Allen)
Bill Murphy	...	Frankston Icebreaker One (voice)
Shaun Patten	...	Frankston Icebreaker Two (voice)

Storyline

In the mid-1970's, a homely, friendless Australian girl of 8 picks a name out of a Manhattan phone book and writes to him; she includes a chocolate bar. She's Mary Dinkle, the only child of an alcoholic mother and a distracted father. He's Max Horowitz, an overweight man with Asperger's, living alone in New York. He writes back, with chocolate. Thus begins a 20-year correspondence, interrupted by a stay in an asylum and a few misunderstandings. Mary falls in love with a neighbor, saves money to have a birthmark removed and deals with loss. Max has a friendship with a neighbor, tries to control his weight, and finally gets the dream job. Will the two ever meet face to face?

---

Plot Keywords:

stop motion | black comedy | stop motion animation | clay animation | asperger's syndrome | 

---

Taglines:

Two unlikely people. Two different worlds come together in a story about a most unusual friendship.

---

Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Drama | Family

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The street, Lamington Drive, is a play on words: Lamingtons are an Australasian cake. They are sometimes used in fund-raising activities by schools and other organizations, whereby they are sold in bulk. Such activities are referred to as 'Lamington Drives'.

---

Goofs

When Mary flips open the phonebook at the Finkelstein entries, the same 7 lines are repeated. When she points at the entry for Horowitz (having not flipped the pages at all), 6 of the same 7 addresses are used (all but the one for M J A Horowitz); only the names have been changed. The one that is changed is from Herbert to Hubert and inexplicably leaves an extra blank space between Hubert and Street.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: Mary Dinkle's eyes were the color of muddy puddles. Her birthmark, the color of poo.

---

Crazy Credits

The end credits show animated portraits of the characters, with the actors names beneath them.

---

Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Stop-Motion Animation Movies (2014)

---

Soundtracks

Perpetuum Mobile
Composed by Simon Jeffes
Published by Editions Penguin Café Ltd
Performed by the Penguin Cafe Orchestra (as Penguin Café Orchestra)
Licensed by Fable Music Pty Ltd on behalf of Zopf Ltd

User Reviews

Witty, well observed and wondrous

I went into this film at the Berlinale with mixed feelings. I knew that Adam Elliot's shorts were great but frankly the last few years haven't been great for Australian films and a number of short filmmakers have made disappointing first features.

But right from the opening frame, this film shattered any of my doubts. It's so refreshing to see a film told with such a strong unique vision and pulled off so effortlessly. This is made even more remarkable not only as it's made using stop motion animation but also because of the characters and subject matter it tackles.

Mary is an 8 year old outcast living in the suburbs of Melbourne. On a whim, she chooses a name at random in a phone book and sends off a letter asking about life on the other side of the world. The letter is received by Max, an overweight depressive in his 40's living in New York, suffering from Aspergers Syndrome. A friendship is born as the pair exchange letters over the next 20 years. offering each other support, advice and the chance to see life through another set of eyes.

While the world is painted in gloomy hues of brown and grey and the characters lead bleak lives, the genius of the script is that the characters never wallow or feel sorry for themselves. The tone is kept humorous and balanced allowing us to be moved by the characters as they stumble through life but also laugh at their foibles and observations of the world they struggle to fit into. Not since Muriel's Wedding has Australia produced so fine a comedy with such rich detail and I probably got even more laughs out of this.

My only criticism of the film would be some of its music particularly its use in one key scene of the Humming Chorus (already used so memorably in the finale of Heavenly Creatures). It meant that in a critical moment I was thinking of Kate Winslet up to no good instead of connecting with Mary & Max. But this is more a personal concern and if that's the weakest thing about the film, it's doing pretty well. I hope this film is seen by the wide audience it so richly deserves.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Germany] Official site [Japan]

Country:

Australia

Language:

English Yiddish

Release Date:

9 April 2009 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Mary and Max

Filming Locations:

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

AUD8,240,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,739,445

Company Credits

Production Co:

Melodrama Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1