[grog]

I had never heard of this movie but decided to check it out because I've always had a thing for claymation and it got very good reviews (91% on Rotten Tomatoes). The premise seemed very odd though. From IMDB:

A tale of friendship between two unlikely pen pals: Mary, a lonely, eight-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, and Max, a forty-four-year old, severely obese man living in New York.

Thankfully I didn't let the strange plot dissuade me because it turned out to be a fantastic movie. Overall it plays out as a dark comedy but it also has some very touching as well as some incredibly sad moments. Bittersweet sums it up best. It starts off a little slow but draws you in because you can't help but feel for the characters.

Visually the movie looks great. Like I said I've always been a fan of claymation and this one is right up there with the best of them. The voice acting is also outstanding, especially Philip Seymour Hoffman as Max and the narration by Barry Humphries. The voicing is what really brings the characters to life.

I won't try to explain much more about it because no description can really do it justice. It's all about the characters so you really need to see it to appreciate it. I can't recommend this movie enough but be forewarned - it is some heart wrenching stuff. It's also not for younger children as it deals with some heavy subject matter at times. And if you don't like people seeing you cry at movies then you might want to watch this one alone.