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Movies / Upcoming / Mary and Max
Mary and Max

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Mary and Max (2009)

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Reviews Counted:26

Fresh:24

Rotten:2

Average Rating:7.7/10

Consensus: Mary and Max is a lovingly crafted, startlingly inventive piece of animation whose technical craft is equaled by its emotional resonance.

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: This claymation wonder made a splash at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. The surprising friendship between a young Australian girl named Mary (voiced by Toni Collette) and an aging New Yorker named... This claymation wonder made a splash at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. The surprising friendship between a young Australian girl named Mary (voiced by Toni Collette) and an aging New Yorker named Max (Philip Seymour Hoffman) lies at the heart of this sweet comedy. Though Mary and Max have never met, they communicate via letter, becoming close companions though they are separated by thousands of miles. Barry Humphries provides narration, while Eric Bana also supplies his voice. [More]

Starring: Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Eric Bana

Starring: Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Eric Bana

Director: Adam Elliot

Director: Adam Elliot
Screenwriter: Adam Elliot
Producer: Melanie Coombs

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Mary and Max

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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A dark, grown-up story about an extraordinary friendship over 20 years

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
07/16/09
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

A melancholy true story of unlikely friendship which is another bold example of adult storytelling through animation.

Full Review Source: Screen International | comment Comment
01/16/09
Mike Goodridge
Mike Goodridge
Screen International

As misguided and mystifying as it may sound at first, the Australian claymated Mary and Max turns out to be a hugely pleasurable and moving surprise.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
11/20/09
Kevin Williamson
Kevin Williamson
Jam! Movies

The mixture of artistic sophistication and emotional crudeness cancel each other out.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
11/20/09
Liam Lacey
Liam Lacey
Globe and Mail

In a perverse and often immature way, it forthrightly deals with mature issues of love, friendship, forgiveness and mental health. It requires a mature audience, but an audience nonetheless.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
11/20/09
Peter Howell
Peter Howell
Toronto Star

When two-dimensional drawings, computer pixels or lifeless lumps of clay can inspire real feeling, something almost magical is involved. Rarely has this been truer than in the Australian claymation film Mary and Max.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
10/30/09
Marc Mohan
Marc Mohan
Oregonian

one of the more brilliant and emotionally affecting animated films to be released this year.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
10/15/09
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

The most surprisingly moving film of the year, an experience that literally knocked me back as it brought tears to my eyes.

Full Review Source: Movie Retriever | comment Comment
10/14/09
Brian Tallerico
Brian Tallerico
Movie Retriever

I don't know how anyone wouldn't love this splendid, beautiful, hilarious and heartbreaking film.

Full Review Source: Metromix.com | comment Comment
10/13/09
Matt Pais
Matt Pais
Metromix.com

click for the full review

Full Review Source: Movies for the Masses | comment Comment
10/13/09
Joseph Proimakis
Joseph Proimakis
Movies for the Masses

I'd be a sucker for most movies where a strategic slick of rooster s*** plays a decisive role in enabling an emotional communion, or where a young girl thinks to ask, "If a taxi goes backwards, does the driver owe you money?"

Full Review Source: Nick's Flick Picks | comment Comment
10/12/09
Nick Davis
Nick Davis
Nick's Flick Picks

"Mary and Max" is a highly inventive claymation tragicomedy told from a very personal perspective. It's not intended to be everyone's cup of tea.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
10/11/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

From opposite ends of the world the two can say anything to each other, and the clay animation lets us see what their minds' eyes are seeing. The story is wise and funny in ways it could not be in live action.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
10/11/09
Mark R. Leeper
Mark R. Leeper
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Mary and Max has the look of a kids picture but is another chapter in the growing evolution of animation for grown-ups.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
10/08/09
Erik Childress
Erik Childress
eFilmCritic.com

Remarkable and poignant...

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
09/25/09
Kevin Thomas
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Exquisite attention to detail that creates not only a complex portrait of each of the main characters but also a vivid sense of place.

Full Review Source: Eye for Film | comment Comment
07/04/09
Amber Wilkinson
Amber Wilkinson
Eye for Film

Only long after the film, and with considerable effort, do you have to remind yourself that what you went all weak-kneed and misty-eyed over was a blob of plasticine -- a superbly directed blob of plasticine.

Full Review Source: The Age (Australia) | comment Comment
04/17/09
Jim Schembri
Jim Schembri
The Age (Australia)

Mary and Max is completely unlike anything Australian film has produced till now, and should be celebrated.

Full Review Source: MovieTime, ABC Radio National | comment Comment
04/10/09
Julie Rigg
Julie Rigg
MovieTime, ABC Radio National

The most interesting, complex characters you will probably meet all year are puppets.

Full Review Source: FILMINK (Australia) | comment Comment
04/10/09
Annette Basile
Annette Basile
FILMINK (Australia)

It was five years in the making and it’s worth every minute.

Full Review Source: At the Movies (Australia) | comment Comment
04/10/09
Margaret Pomeranz
Margaret Pomeranz
At the Movies (Australia)
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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