Many movies barter sentimentality to the audience with what strikes me as irresponsible abandon – the latest Nicholas Sparks novel adaptation is an easy target, but it is a fine line between appearing genuine and forcing manipulative drivel down (unfortunately) willing throats. The presence of authentic sincerity should be treasured and regarded as a rarity, and that’s what makes Adam Elliot’s Mary and Max such a surprising film just shy of masterpiece status.
Written, directed and designed by Elliot, who won an Oscar in 2004 for the 23-minute animated short Harvie Krumpet (which is included on this DVD), Mary and Max is Elliot’s first feature and clearly a labor of love, painstaking in detail and played out in claymation over the course of 90-odd minutes. Were this a 2D animated film, or even a 3D venture, I would hesitate showering it with as much praise as I intend to apply to Mary and Max, and that’s not to the detriment of either animation method. It’s just that this film feels like it couldn’t have been told better in any other format and that is the great triumph not only of Elliot’s vision but the talent of his cast and crew.
The story of Mary and Max is a simple set-up – by sheer accident, a young Australian girl named Mary Daisy Dinkle (voiced by Bethany Whitmore as a child and Toni Colette as an adult) strikes up a pen-pal friendship with a 44-year-old neurotic New Yorker Jew named Max Jerry Horovitz (rendered tragically real by the multi-talented Philip Seymour Hoffman). Spanning continents, the two continue to write to one another as weeks turn to months, and into years, and eventually to decades. Very little of film is actual dialogue, instead mostly narration (admirably delivered by comedian Barry Humphries) and the content of the letters exchanged.
The dare-I-say-it magic of the film is in the skillful way Elliot marries tragedy and whimsy as the twin forces that shaped these two unique people. Both outcasts, both uncomfortable about their bodies and socially awkward, Mary and Max reach out to each other and find a common language despite a wealth of cultural differences. The detail that brings their world to life is stylistic but feels so very lived in – from Max’s 1970s – 80s New York City, peppered with landmarks and tiny touches to remind us of pop culture checkpoints along the way (look for the kid wearing a “Save Ferris” t-shirt) – to Mary’s Australian small-town life, the kind of homegrown naiveté that masks even the darkest aspects of Mary’s home life.
It’s social criticisms are every bit on par with Pixar’s offerings, perhaps even more adult and the compassion of the voice acting never plays down the oft-harsh reality of our fleeting, fragile lives. It’s not that Mary and Max don’t understand that they are living in a real world - often unfair and cruel - but they choose to look at it their way (although in Max’s case, the choice is often out of his sausage-fingered hands).
Animated features often go one of two ways – they are either adult offerings or kid friendly, pop culture savvy, and star-heavy fare. Pixar has been able to combine these two incongruent approaches successfully and Elliot, through sheer effort and astute emotional resonance, has made one of those treasured “kids movies for adults.” Mary and Max is a must-see.
DVD Bonus Features
The extras open with a U.S. trailer and an international trailer, commentary from Mr. Elliot, a 20-odd minute behind the scenes look at the making of the film that includes set building and voice acting as well as narration. A brief light-hearted making of showing Elliot arriving to the set on a Segway, 4 minutes of alternate scenes, a 2-minute audition tape of Bethany Whitmore, who is pitch-perfect as the young Mary and finally, Harvey Krumpet, the Oscar winning short. Although I do wish the extras had more substance and looked into the making of the film on a more in-depth basis, this is a very good offering for anyone interesting in just how they did it.
"Mary & Max" is on sale June 15, 2010 and is not rated. Animation, Drama. Written and directed by Adam Elliot. Starring Eric Bana, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Toni Collette.
