Mary and Max (2009)

Adam Elliot’s feature debut is an offbeat and charming animation rooted in fact, by turns touching, bleak and droll, and bound for cult status despite some rocky moments. It stands out for its quirky, compassionate handling of heavy themes like loneliness, Asperger’s and suicide through grimly witty details and strong voice work.

The reviewer praises it as a heartfelt and sadsack-funny claymation about an unlikely pen friendship, full of poignant non-sequiturs and gross humor, though it doesn't fully sustain its length; a moving celebration of oddness.

Mary and Max is a funny but serious claymation about two odd pen pals hoping for something real from their letters, tackling strange medical and psychiatric conditions. The director intends to make viewers think, though the 88-minute runtime feels long for its eccentric proceedings.

The review calls it a melancholy true story of unlikely friendship told with bittersweet humor and visual panache that captures loneliness without mocking it; strong on character details but weaker on narrative structure.

The critic finds the claymation film an oddball take on friendship that avoids facile uplift or bleakness, drawing comedy from grimness like Todd Solondz, and highlights its focus on correspondence and miscommunication.

The critic finds the claymation film ambitious yet at times grotesque, managing to be both sickly-cute and right-on while detailing the pen-pal friendship between a lonely Australian girl and a New Yorker with Asperger's. The switches in tone are jolting, but the ambition is admirable despite uncertainty over whether the film laughs with or at its creations.

The critic admires the film's painstaking clay animation and its compassionate embrace of flawed, marginalized characters but finds it emotionally distant and more admirable than lovable due to its melancholy tone and lack of commercial concessions.

The film awkwardly combines maudlin sentiment, miserablist humor, and scatological gags in a glum tale of unlikely pen-pal friendship. Its mix of mordant whimsy and tearjerker moments ultimately curdles unappetizingly.

The critic praises the film's unusual blend of darkness and tremendous bittersweet heart, highlighting its exploration of self-acceptance, the redemptive power of honest human connection, and the idea that life is more about the journey than the destination. Elliot's deft handling of these themes and the powerful claymation make it linger long after the credits.

The critic calls the film an enchanting stop-motion animated debut that succeeds due to its resonant central story of an unusual friendship, which is both funny and sad with a perfect emotional pitch. The distinctive and imaginative animation style, with wonderful use of colour and visual gags, is singled out alongside the outstanding vocal performances bringing the memorable characters to life.

The critic finds the film a visually exciting and hilariously cruel yet sweet animation that hits the spot overall, praising its loving claymation and visual flourishes. The story occasionally overruns its welcome in the third act when communication between characters breaks down.

The critic describes the Sundance opening-night film as ambitious and very funny, managing to laugh at its eccentric characters without mocking them. It is visually marvelous with a splendid Hoffman performance, though it runs out of ideas before the end.

The critic praises the tactile qualities and exquisite detail of the stop-motion animation, which gives the characters authenticity and humanity. The film is described as a touching, acidly witty look at loneliness, the comfort of strangers, and societal ignorance.

The critic calls it one of the year’s strangest and funniest films, a twisted claymation oddity not for kids. The unlikely friendship between the lonely Australian girl and her New York pen pal stands out for its brilliant weirdness and strong vocal performances.