Like Inside Out, Mary And Max is also concerned with the loneliness that is often experienced in childhood, where the pressures of fitting in lead to depression and the desire to reach out and connect to someone. It's also about how friendship can come from the most unlikely places; even an agoraphobic, neurotic 44-year-old New Yorker. Mary (Toni Collette) strikes up this unlikely friendship with Max (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) after plucking his name at random from a telephone directory and sending him a letter, initiating a series of exchanges which will shape their lives. Darkly comic and full of hilarious observations about how people behave and acqwuire their strange habits, Mary And Max is also a thoughtful film about mental ilness which uses its humour to accentuate its humanistic message. The stop motion animation actively avoids flair and bombast, with the monochromatic worlds apt visual representations of the mental states of Mary and Max, yet ultimately the film is an uplifting experience which reminds you that even when things look bleak there's plenty to be hopeful about.
