Transports you into a universe of its own where the surprises never stop coming - a small masterpiece!

Rating: 10/10 (28 December 2013)

I've been watching too many mediocre/sub-par flicks lately. Which makes me so happy that once in a blue moon, there's still a movie that is able to just sweep in from nowhere and trigger that soaring feeling inside your chest, making you grateful for being alive to have experienced it. This amazingly detailed clay-animated (á la Wallace & Gromit with a grayish twist!), but QUITE adult fairy tale is one of those: Unhappy 8-year-old Mary in a small Australian town, writes a chance letter in the 1970's to middle-aged obese man, Max in NYC, USA - and so an unlikely pen-pal-correspondence begins... that is nothing but a marvel to share!
The biggest miracle this movie pulls off is to literally transport you into another universe of its own, where the surprises never stop coming. Through the lives and fates of two simply unforgettable characters, it takes a firm, heartfelt stand for The Outsider and dives head-first into dark places where, say Pixar rarely would dare to go (mental afflictions, alcoholism, bullying, family deaths etc). Almost guaranteed to move you to tears, (even a few more might be shed knowing that recently diseased Philip Seymour Hoffman provides the fantastic voice of Max) it also serves up top-notch black humor and is hysterically funny at times.
Yes, I am seriously in love with this wonderful film and can't wait until I get to watch it again. A small masterpiece that collects an equal once-in-a-blue-moon 10/10 score from me!