Mary and Max (2009)

This little movie was recommended to me by a friend, and though I wasn't sure if it was appropriate for Ian to watch, we watched it together last night. This is an Australian clay-animated movie about a lonely young girl who becomes pen friends with a 40 year old man with Aspergers who lives in New York. This had some funny moments, but I would say for the most part, this is a drama. I absolutely was in love with this movie. I loved the animation, I loved the voices (Toni Collette plays Mary and my boyfriend Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Max) and I loved loved LOVED the story. I loved the idea that two people who just don't fit into societies "norms" were able to find each other by a complete fluke of fate, and end up with such a unique relationship. It was sad, no doubt about it...a sad lonely little tale. Yet I found a glimmer of hope that even through major differences, people can come together and change each others lives forever. Some of this reminded me a little of a Woody Allen movie. Of course it was so cool to see 1970s New York in Clay animation. I loved the colors in this movie, with its various hues of greys of the city, and the browns of Marys world with just a smatter of red here and there. The music was also perfect in setting the mood. I thought that the anxiety shown in Max's world was very honest and real. I also thought the neglect in Mary's world was so true and so sad. Makes you want to spend more time with your kids thats for sure! There is constant narration (most of the dialogue is the narration) which might bother some people. This was not a problem for me. I think Ian might have found it a bit boring, again I would not consider this a "childrens" movie, in fact I don't think that I would recommend it for children under 11 just because there are a few references to sex, that might require further explanation. I really think though that this is a sweet, sad movie worth watching for sure.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978762/