Hey, boys and girls, I’m so thrilled to
welcome a new review by the brilliant, insightful and delightful
Miss
Dollie Banner.
Read on for her thoughts on the animated feature,
Mary and Max.
It
always disturbs me when a feature-length animated movie doesn't live up
to expectations because I know just how much painstaking work goes into
it, having studied animation myself. I could barely finish my one-minute
film, so I truly appreciate the effort involved in crafting one that
runs a full ninety-two minutes. That's why Mary and Max is doubly
disappointing; because all the love, care and meticulous work that went
into it results in a movie that is not very fun to watch.
Mary
and Max marks the first feature of animator Adam Elliot and producer
Melanie Coombs, who took home the Oscar for best animated short for
2003’s Harvie Krumpet. This film tells the story of two unlikely penpals
through the medium of claymation stop-motion. Mary, voiced by Bethanie
Whitmore as a youngster and Toni Collette as adult, is a lonely, awkward
child trying to cope with growing up as an outsider in the suburbs of
Melbourne, Australia, who serendipitously chooses a likeminded
correspondent in Max, a forty-something Jewish New Yorker, just as
isolated in his city of millions. The two exchange letters, questions
and goodies (- mostly of a chocolate variety) throughout Mary’s
adolescence and early womanhood, ultimately becoming each other’s
closest friend and confidant. It’s a promising premise, but the details
of not only their lives, but their friendship are so dismal and
disheartening that the films feels more like abuse than entertainment.
Elliot obviously cares a great deal for his characters and the most
successful aspect of the film is that the audience does too. He has
lovingly handcrafted dozens of personal details to flesh out their two
worlds. The problem is that those details are so relentlessly negative
that it’s nearly impossible as a viewer to enjoy their story. Elliot’s
visual style most closely resembles that of the Aardman Animation,
responsible for the sublime Wallace and Gromit series, as well as
Chicken Run, but lack the charm and wit that distinguish those films.
I’m not saying that every animated movie has to be a feel-good story,
but I personally don’t care to be punished for investing in the main
characters.
Even
so, Mary and Max does boast a few things to recommend it. Firstly Barry
Humphries, more commonly known as Dame Edna, provides the welcome
narrative that sets the tone and guides the viewer skillfully through
the ups and downs of the leads’ relationship. And Phillip Seymour
Hoffman offers his nearly unrecognizable voice as Max, the type of
character one runs into daily on the streets of New York, but almost
never sees on the screen. Hoffman obviously took some time and skill to
create a fully new character and his sequences detailing Max’s first few
letters to Mary are the most enjoyable. Unfortunately, Mary matures far
too late for Toni Collette to add much to the film. I wish some of her
vocal enthusiasm had made their mark on the story, but ultimately Mary
and Max is just not any fun at all.
~
Dollie Banner
Oct.
13th, 2009
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