A standout animated masterpiece with humorous and moving moments plus a character I could easily relate to

Rating: 9/10 (18 July 2014)

I first heard of this film when I was doing research for a digital video project at college where I wanted to determine if African care staff had a sound understanding of autism and Asperger syndrome (which I have as well as Max in the film) and I watched the clip where Max reveals his diagnosis of Asperger's to Mary so I could analyse his traits. Two years ago I rented it and found it thoroughly enjoyable apart from being dissatisfied by the ending. Last year I discovered an Internet video review series called 'Jambareeqi Reviews,' which Jambareeqi mentioned on the IMDb message boards. I was intrigued and the first review of his I saw was for this film. Despite his review for this film being somewhat more favourable than mine, I was surprised when he said he had Asperger syndrome himself but reassured as well. When purchasing this DVD this week, I watched it and made notes on it, particularly those about Max's Asperger traits, in preparation for my dissertation on the portrayal of autism and Asperger syndrome in the media when I start back at university this autumn. I found this film slightly more enjoyable second time around despite noticing a flaw that I hadn't noticed first time around.
That particular flaw was with the opening music. While it is a beautiful, melodic piano and string-led piece, it was repetitive since it was used more than once throughout the film. Other pieces of music I liked were the same piece used for the theme tune of 'The Apprentice,' the piano-led piece played just before Max informs Mary of his Asperger's, the song 'Que Sera Sera' and the music played over the closing credits. Despite the slight musical weakness, this film has plenty of positive aspects such as its animation, its voice acting and its narrative. The stop-motion animation is similar to that used in Adam Elliot's other work 'Harvie Krumpet (which I saw a short clip of on a DVD I purchased several years ago to raise money for an appeal for the 2004 tsunami) and it is different from the style used for Aardman. There are also some segments of 2D animation that are used for Mary and Max's favourite cartoon 'The Noblets' and pictures accompanying what Mary writes in her first letter to Max. While the colour scheme may be a little on the dull side, I liked Mary's scenes being made in sepia tone and Max's being made in black and white to distinguish the difference between their worlds. There are a few bright red elements as well such as Vera's lips and Max's pom pom that Mary makes him. The narrative was engaging, especially when Mary and Max wrote to each other and the narration from Barry Humphries was simple yet effective. The voice acting was just as good as the narrative. As for the titular characters, I can definitely relate to Max in such ways as disliking crowds and loud, sudden noises and Mary is an adorable young girl who I deeply sympathise with and her adulthood was a nice surprise despite her heartache in terms of losing her parents and her husband leaving her for another man. While I was dissatisfied with the ending on my first viewing, I found it moving the second time around. Not only does the film deal with serious issues such as alcoholism, obesity, loneliness, depression, attempted suicide, bereavement, drug abuse, Asperger syndrome and mental health conditions but there is also the odd humorous moment.
In spite of the flaws regarding the music and the ending, 'Mary and Max' is an engaging feature-length stop-motion animation that ran at a steady pace, dealt with serious issues in a realistic and sensitive way, featured a character I could easily relate to and also featured some worthy side-characters such as Ivy and Mary's parents. 9/10.