Mary and Max

    Mary and Max is an Australian claymation dark comedy drama film (try saying that all at once). The film takes place in 1976 Mount Waverley, Australia where Mary Daisy Dinkle lives. To sum it all up her life sucks. She has a distant father and a  mother who is a kleptomaniac, and has a serious drinking problem, and has no friends due to a "poop" colored birthmark on her forehead. One day at the mail office while her mother is "borrowing" a large stack of envelopes Mary finds a New York City telephone book and having a moment of curiosity decides to write to one. Some time later a man named  Max Jerry Horowitz gets Mary's letter and they become friends.
    Overall the animation was good. I only spotted a couple of times a fingerprint showed, and they did a great job of showing complex movements (the one I'm talking about is eating). Also just the general style was likable, the characters all had funny little defects that went great with the comedy. I also really liked the use of color. Max's life is in black and white and Mary's is in sepia (kind of scenting the mood each live in).
    Overall I would say it is good entertainment and good animating work, and a good/touching story but there are an inaccuracy I would like to point out. Max is diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome but the symptoms of Asperger's actually are almost opposite of his. Aspergers includes repetitive behavior (which Max exhibits) and is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction (Max also exhibits this) and nonverbal communication (which Max doesn't exhibit (I mean his entire communication to Mary is nonverbal)). Other than that the comedy is good and the drama doesn't completely dominate the story (the story is the drama and not that there is drama in the story). Also it does a good job of illustrating how profoundly we affect each others lives (a single word can make your life miserable). I think anyone should watch this, it just is a good film and anyone could like it.

Max 

Mary