Mary and Max Review

Rating: 7/10 (8 September 2014)

"Mary and Max" (2009) is a stop motion animated film about two pen pals writing from two different countries. Mary is a nervous and embarrassed girl who wants nothing but to have a friend. She lives in Australia. Max is an obese man living in New York and has a disorder called Asperger's. Their friendship begins in the most random way. Mary finds a phone book, writes down a name and then decides to write to the name. What ensues is an odyssey of growing up and realism of life in excruciating detail and humor.
Now I went into this movie not knowing what it was or how it was going to play out. All I knew was that it was a random animated short film on Netflix but when the movie began we had a change in character from other such animated films. The jokes were very adult and themes that the film covers is very mature. Now all of this doesn't drown out the movie, however, it has heart. The film displays friendship between two different but utterly the same people. Some of the letters are funny, sad and informative and that leads to the character of Max having an anxiety attack. The film also goes as far to display suicide though the act never follows through. Overall this is a film for mature audiences.
I loved animation. Stop motion was something I loved when I was younger and that art seems to be lost except for the works of Tim Burton. The story telling was top notch and there are times when you laugh out loud. The ending was touching and basically put the icing on the cake. I guess my gripe would be the overwhelming amount of adult jokes and mature themes though this can be perceived as a good thing. There are parts you'd think would never make it into an animated film and there are many shocking moments.