A Unique Friendship

Rating: 10/10 (21 October 2012)

Mary and Max is an Australian clay-animated black comedy-drama film written and directed by Adam Elliot and produced by Melanie Coombs. The voice cast included Philip Seymour Hoffman, Toni Collette, Eric Bana, Bethany Whitmore, with narration by Barry Humphries.
The Academy Award-winning director of Harvie Krumpet returns to the world of clay animation with this simple tale of the innocent correspondence between a portly eight year old girl from the suburbs of Melbourne and a morbidly obese, middle-aged Jewish New Yorker suffering from Asperger's Syndrome.On the surface it would seem that Mary and Max would have little in common, but over the course of twenty years, the unlikely pen pals exchange letters discussing everything from taxidermy, trust, pets, religion, obesity, autism, agoraphobia, alcoholism, and just about any other topic that comes to mind as they sit down and put pen to paper.
The film's humor throughout is rooted in a general malaise that afflicts both characters.It is a lovingly crafted, startlingly inventive piece of animation whose technical craft is equaled by its emotional resonance.The animation style, done mostly in a gray to black palette with an overall droopy look, enhances the melancholic feeling that exudes from this intriguing story. Funny details, too, make it suitable for kids and it is a uniquely bittersweet film starring two clay- sculpted outcasts with a unique friendship.