Adam Elliot's Mary and Max, which opened the Sundance Film Festival tonight with separate but simultaneous screenings for press and the public, is a very high-end claymation drama in every respect -- adult yet sweet, tender but not twee, beautifully written, honest about handicaps and melancholia but full of warmth and caring and a general mood of oddball quirk. Older kids will roll with it (I hope) but it's not aimed at the conventional family trade, which tends to prefer upbeat formula stuff with far-less-weird characters and euphoric endings.
Mary and Max ends sadly but movingly in a way that animation-claymation has rarely touched. It's a lot darker, wittier, sadder, dankier, more morose and -- this is a key thing -- Asperger's Syndrome-y than I expected, and so I kind of warmed to it early on. It could have been shorter -- 70 minutes, say, instead of 92 -- but that aside, it's not at all bad and is actually something I can fully recommend.
Cheers to Elliott (who, I'm told, has a mild Asperger's affliction himself, which explains some of the authority the film has) and his voice cast -- Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Toni Collette, Barry Humphries and Eric Bana.
I realize I was full of resistance about seeing this film in previous posts. That's actually a good way to come at a new film -- i.e., expecting very little.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on January 15, 2009 at 9:04 PM
comment #1
Deathtongue_Groupie
says ...
Throw in consideration of the terrible sofa-bed, and man that sucker must be good...
Posted by Deathtongue_Groupie
at January 15, 2009 11:51 PM
comment #2
plastiqueelephant
says ...
I'm know Adam a little from the industrial parties and such back in Oz. A nicer, more gracious person you wouldn't find. He donated his Oscar to the national film museum as soon as he won it, is always speaking in old age homes and to young filmmakers graciously and encouragingly without a trace of condescension. People thought he was crazy to turn down overtures to direct a Disney or Pixar film to make an Aussie claymation pic about an old man with aspergers. Very glad to hear the film rocks, couldn't happen to a more deserving guy.
Posted by plastiqueelephant
at January 16, 2009 12:52 AM
comment #3
actionman
says ...
Interesting reaction considering you were slamming the film sight unseen.
Justin Chang was less impressed, though.
http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=festivals&jump=review&id=2471&reviewid=VE1117939351&cs=1
Posted by actionman
at January 16, 2009 8:39 AM
comment #4
btwnproductions
says ...
His Oscar winner, Harvie Krumpet, is terrific. It's been on the Sundance Channel recently.
Posted by btwnproductions
at January 16, 2009 1:12 PM
comment #5
televisiontears
says ...
Sorry to go all D.Z., but I think this warrants mention:
Joaquin Phoenix is cutting a RAP record... to be produced by Diddy... Sometimes WTF just doesn't cover it.
Posted by televisiontears
at January 16, 2009 1:41 PM
comment #6
actionman
says ...
Casey Affleck should be staging an intervention for Phoenix rather than filming a doc of this car-wreck-in-the-making.
Posted by actionman
at January 16, 2009 1:55 PM
comment #7
BurmaShave
says ...
I didn't really buy Joaquin as Johnny Cash either, and he nailed that. Stranger things have happened. A lot of people have such narrow views of what rap means anyway. The presence of Diddy makes me more nervous, though of course ages ago he had a hand in producing the greatest hip hop album ever made, READY TO DIE. Speaking of which, is anyone else going to see NOTORIOUS? I'm concerned but optimistic.
Posted by BurmaShave
at January 16, 2009 3:50 PM
comment #8
Ryansi51
says ...
i don't think there's too much to be optimistic about with Notorious. love me some smalls but it just doesnt look very good.
Posted by Ryansi51
at January 16, 2009 4:10 PM
comment #9
BurmaShave
says ...
It's actually not bad, even fairly good. The cliches of the bio-pic aside, I think you have to judge these things by one standard: did it capture the person and what made them great? On those terms I would absolutely call it a success.
Posted by BurmaShave
at January 16, 2009 10:07 PM
comment #10
janee
says ...
Si vous etes interesses par le dossier, ou desirez en savoir plus, contactez-moi par mail, et je vous mettrai en contact.
Best regards,Jane, CEO of cluster high availability
Posted by janee
at May 19, 2011 7:44 AM