Mary & Max: A Review

Fig 1. Mary and Max (2009) [Poster]

Written and directed by Adam Elliot, Mary and Max (2009) is a stop-motion film about two very unlikely friends – Mary, a sad, lonely eight-year-old from Melbourne, and Max, an autistic (and grossly overweight) forty-four-year old living in New York. Mary and Max (2009) is the very first animated film to open for the Sundance Film Festival. Over its lifetime, it has won 4 awards, and received 9 nominations in various categories.

The film received excellent reviews, with a 95% total rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as an average 4.2/20 from nearly 25,000 regular users of the site. The film was only theatrically released in Australia, with a home video release a year later in 2010. Mary and Max managed to gross $1.7 million USD worldwide. Unfortunately, the budget for the film was $8.2 million AUD, which is roughly $6.1 million USD. So, despite the favourable reviews, awards and nominations, the film didn't even manage to make back a quarter of its budget.

Fig 2. Mary and Max (2009) [Film Still]

Mary and Max spans nearly 2 decades, chronicling each and every interaction between the pair, as well as showing us into their personal lives, and the troubles that affect them. Max attends “Overeaters Anonymous” classes, where a woman consistently makes advances towards him, much to his distaste, leaving him feeling particularly disturbed. Mary’s mother is a kleptomaniac and a drunk. It is when Mary’s mother is “buying” some envelopes form the post office, that she decides to write a letter to someone in America. Right after she chooses the name “Max Horowitz” at random from the telephone book, her mother is caught stealing, and decides to hastily exit the post office, dragging Mary behind her. Mary manages to grab the address from the phone book just as she is pulled out the door.

“Rooted in the fact and by turns touching, bleak and droll . . . . Tackling such un-animation topics as loneliness, body image, alcoholism, suicide and Asperger’s syndrome, it’s quirky, compassionate and slightly seedily sweet.”

– Parkinson, 2010

They continue writing to each other for several years, and Max’s life continues to improve, whereas Mary’s gets much worse. Her father passes away, her many attempts to gain her neighbour Damien’s romantic attention go horribly wrong, and her mother drinks formaldehyde instead of sherry. This final event encourages Damien to comfort her, and the two end up falling in love, and get married. Whilst at university, Mary decides to write her thesis on Asperger’s, with Max as her case study. This causes Max to get angry, and the pair have a huge falling out.

On top of this, Damien leaves Mary for his pen pal, Desmond, and moves away with him. Mary ties a noose, and prepares to hang herself. She is caught off guard by her neighbour Len, who has brought a package to her door – it’s from Max, and he’s written a letter of apology, as well as sent her his entire figure collection. Along with her new baby, Mary travels to New York to visit Max. She opens the door to his apartment, and finds him sitting on the sofa, having passed away peacefully that morning. She follows his gaze to see that he has pasted every letter she wrote to him on his ceiling.

“This movie is an act of tenderness that will linger long after the closing credits roll”

– Giles, 2009

Fig 3. Mary and Max (2009) [Film Still]

Bibliography

Giles, J. (2009) MARY AND MAX Review [Online] At: http://collider.com/mary-and-max-review/

Parkinson, D. (2010) Mary And Max Review [Online] At: https://www.empireonline.com/movies/mary-max/review/ (Accessed 09.05.18)

Illustration List

Fig  1. Mary and Max (2009) [Poster] At: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978762/mediaviewer/rm1527398144 (Accessed 09.05.18)

Fig 2. Mary and Max (2009) [Film Still] At: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978762/mediaviewer/rm873207040 (Accessed 09.05.18)

Fig 3. Mary and Max (2009) [Film Still] At: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978762/mediaviewer/rm3291875072 (Accessed 09.05.18)