As misguided and mystifying as it may sound at first, the Australian claymated Mary and Max turns out to be a hugely pleasurable and moving surprise.
Mary and Max (2009)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:26
Fresh:24
Rotten:2
Average Rating:7.7/10
Consensus: Mary and Max is a lovingly crafted, startlingly inventive piece of animation whose technical craft is equaled by its emotional resonance.
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Nov 30, 1999 Wide
Synopsis: This claymation wonder made a splash at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. The surprising friendship between a young Australian girl named Mary (voiced by Toni Collette) and an aging New Yorker named... This claymation wonder made a splash at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. The surprising friendship between a young Australian girl named Mary (voiced by Toni Collette) and an aging New Yorker named Max (Philip Seymour Hoffman) lies at the heart of this sweet comedy. Though Mary and Max have never met, they communicate via letter, becoming close companions though they are separated by thousands of miles. Barry Humphries provides narration, while Eric Bana also supplies his voice. [More]
Starring: Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Eric Bana
Starring: Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Eric Bana
Director: Adam Elliot
Director: Adam Elliot
Screenwriter: Adam Elliot
Producer: Melanie Coombs
Reviews for Mary and Max
The mixture of artistic sophistication and emotional crudeness cancel each other out.
In a perverse and often immature way, it forthrightly deals with mature issues of love, friendship, forgiveness and mental health. It requires a mature audience, but an audience nonetheless.
When two-dimensional drawings, computer pixels or lifeless lumps of clay can inspire real feeling, something almost magical is involved. Rarely has this been truer than in the Australian claymation film Mary and Max.
one of the more brilliant and emotionally affecting animated films to be released this year.
The most surprisingly moving film of the year, an experience that literally knocked me back as it brought tears to my eyes.
I don't know how anyone wouldn't love this splendid, beautiful, hilarious and heartbreaking film.
I'd be a sucker for most movies where a strategic slick of rooster s*** plays a decisive role in enabling an emotional communion, or where a young girl thinks to ask, "If a taxi goes backwards, does the driver owe you money?"
"Mary and Max" is a highly inventive claymation tragicomedy told from a very personal perspective. It's not intended to be everyone's cup of tea.
From opposite ends of the world the two can say anything to each other, and the clay animation lets us see what their minds' eyes are seeing. The story is wise and funny in ways it could not be in live action.
Mary and Max has the look of a kids picture but is another chapter in the growing evolution of animation for grown-ups.
A dark, grown-up story about an extraordinary friendship over 20 years
Exquisite attention to detail that creates not only a complex portrait of each of the main characters but also a vivid sense of place.
Only long after the film, and with considerable effort, do you have to remind yourself that what you went all weak-kneed and misty-eyed over was a blob of plasticine -- a superbly directed blob of plasticine.
Mary and Max is completely unlike anything Australian film has produced till now, and should be celebrated.
The most interesting, complex characters you will probably meet all year are puppets.
Mary And Max is original, personal, funny and moving; a film of warmth and compassion from a major artist.
Latest News for Mary and Max
June 28, 2009:
Edinburgh 2009: RT's 10 Must-See Movies
The Edinburgh Film Festival has come to a close and Rotten Tomatoes thought we'd make a traditional look back over all of the films playing at this year's fest and present to... More...
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