This is an existential Australian masterpiece. Clay Animation with adult themes. Mary an 8 year old kid in Waverly, Australia comes from a dysfunctional family (father never present, mother drunk). She finds Max's address from an address book in the post office where her mother is in one of her "borrowing" sprees. She writes to him and it is the beginning of a troubled but beautiful friendship that causes a few nervous breakdowns, drunken binges and thesis papers among others.
This gorgeous gem of a movie is certainly not for happy, springy people. In shades of brown (Mary's favourite colour) and gray, each sequence unfolds painstakingly and with such depth and irreverence that you feel drawn into a world where you know everything is not perfect, but it is beautiful in its own ugly way. Each humiliation and every bump in the pathetic characters lives is shown with a black humour and in a surprising but cute choice of children's book language. It is under comedy on imdb.com, but I wonder how many people will be able to appreciate the dark, sarcastic, pessimistic humour. A little overworked and preachy at times, I would definitely put it under drama. A nice movie for those philosophy book buffs and a for movie buffs, it an interesting interplay between a dramatic script and animation.
7/10
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