MARY AND MAX

Written and directed by Adam Elliot
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Toni Collette
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Barry Humphries
Eric Bana
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Premiere date: January 15, 2009 (Sundance Film Festival)
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Mary and Max is a simple tale of pen-friendship between two very different people: Mary Dinkle, a chubby, lonely eight-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, and Max Horovitz, a 44-year-old, severely obese, Jewish man with Asperger's Syndrome living in the chaos of New York. Spanning twenty years and two continents, Mary and Max's friendship survives much more than the average diet of life's ups and downs.

Mary and Max Trailer

There is something about stop-motion animation that is enormously endearing. I'm fascinated by the process and I love the results.

Mary and Max is a claymation feature by Adam Elliot that has somehow slipped under my radar until now. It's the story of two lonely people - 8-year-old Mary and 44-year-old Max - who become unlikely penpals and friends. Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Eric Bana make up the voice cast, and the film is currently sitting at a solid 94% over at RT.

Adam Elliot also wrote and directed the Oscar-winning short film Harvie Krumpet. I'm not at all sure if Mary and Max is supposed to get a release here in the U.S., but I hope it does well. It looks charming and poetic and vaguely sad.