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Film Lover’s Guide to the 2009 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

OPENING NIGHT FILM REVIEW:
MARY AND MAX

By Denise Castillón

Mainly held in the ski town of Park City, Utah, the 25th edition of the Sundance Film Festival kicked off on January 15th with MARY AND MAX, a clay-animated narrative feature from Australian animator, Adam Elliot, and will close after the 2009 Awards Ceremony on January 25th. Renown as the premier showcase for U.S. and international independent film, the festival is offshoot of Sundance Institute, a nonprofit cultural organization founded, by actor-director Robert Redford in 1981, to nurture independent filmmaking.


This years’ opening night film, Elliot’s MARY AND MAX, played to film-loving festival attendees and well and members of the film industry and press.

MARY AND MAX
Genre: Clay Animation/Comedy/Drama
Country: Australia
Running Time: 92 min

Narrated by Barry Humphries, “Mary and Max” is a funny, but odd and lengthy dramatic comedy, starring the voices of Philip Seymour Hoffman and Toni Collette as two socially-awkward and lonely pen pals, whose long-distance friendship provides mutual moral support for over twenty years.

Eight-year-old Mary Daisy Dinkle (Collette), curious about life in America, randomly chooses to write to Max Jerry Horovitz (Hoffman), a middle-aged New Yorker struggling with Asperger's disease. After enduring some bumpy patches in their friendship, they finally learn to accept their imperfections with themselves, as well as with each other.

Set in the 70’s, the Elliot uses neutral brown tones to define Mary’s dull suburban life in Australia, while a black and white color scheme to illustrate Max’s frenzied New York City.

“Mary and Max” was produced by Melanie Coombs. Executive producers are Mark Gooder, Paul Hardart, Tom Hardart, Bryce Menzies and Jonathan Page.