‘You are imperfect, and so am I…’
Animation is so dominated by Pixar and Studio Ghibli that it’s easy to forget how much other great stuff exists outside of those two universes. The sideshow freakery of Mary and Max’s animation style is a world away from the breath taking beauty of Pixar, but it’s still alluring in its own strange, ugly way…
Mary Daisy Dinkle (Toni Collette) is a lonely eight-year-old who strikes up an unlikely pen pal relationship with Max Jerry Horovitz (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a similarly isolated older man from New York City. As the story progresses across many years and different continents we find ourselves immersed in the lives of two odd, but incredibly human people who just wish to find a connection.
Loosely based on writer-director Adam Elliot’s own experiences, Mary and Max is a lovingly crafted story of friendship and acceptance. Max’s diagnosis of Asperger’s is handled with tenderness and care, and the central message of Mary and Max, the idea that everybody struggles with their own imperfections, is, of course, a universal one, and this ensures that Mary and Max is the kind of film that should be on the school curriculum as a way to teach children how to care and understand for others.
While I found the deliberately ugly animation a little jarring at times, this unusual style also ensures that Mary and Max is an utterly unique experience and one that is shot through with a strong emotional core. Poignant without being overly sentimental, funny without being unkind, Elliot’s meditation on loneliness deserves to be filed alongside the work of Ghibli and Pixar as one of the greats. An unconventional, daring film that deserves a bigger audience.