Mary and Max

God gave us relatives. Thank God we can choose our friends.
-Ethel Mornford-

Sometimes perfect strangers make the best friends.

This is just about the strangest movie I’ve ever watched.

I liked the first half. From the Perpetuum Mobile in the beginning of the movie, introducing 8-year-old Mary Daisy Dinkle who was living in Australia, in 1976. As the movie progressed, we were introduced to her father (Noel Norman Dinkle) and her mother (Vera Lorainne Dinkle) and learnt that her family was super dysfunctional. Her father was absent, preferring to spent time alone with his stuffed birds, and her mother was a kleptomaniac alcoholic, who neglects her as well, telling her that she was an ‘accident’.

Then we were introduced to a man living in New York City, named Max Jerry Horowitz. Max was obese and seemed lonely. Both Mary and Max liked watching “The Noblets”, a television show that they like because everybody had ‘oodles’ of friends. Thus their friendlessness is implied.

Mary then wrote to Max, after finding his name and address from a phone book, asking him where babies came from. And  thus their unlikely pen-friendship begun.

As the movie progressed, we learnt that Max has Aspergers’ syndrome, and had anxiety attacks when Mary talked about love or sex in her letters.

*Spoiler alert*
(Highlight to read)
Mary’s father died and her mother followed soon, accidentally drank formalin, mistaking it for sherry. Mary then married Damian Popodopoulos, whom she had been in love with since she was 8.

Inspired by her friendship with Max, Mary studied psychology in university. She even wrote her thesis based on Max, “Dissecting the Asperger’s Mind”. The thesis was going to be published, but when Max found out about it, he was furious. That’s when everything start to suck. Mary became depressed, started drinking, and Damian left her. She hit rock bottom when she tried to commit suicide.

Even though Mary and Max eventually made up, Max died the day Mary came to visit him in New York, his eyes staring at the ceiling where Mary’s letters were glued.

Personally, I think the ending sucked.

*Disclaimer: I hate sad endings, and I am NOT a movie reviewer. I am entitled to hate sad endings and nothing no one says would change the way I feel about the ending. It’s a strange but beautiful movie, and maybe, just maybe, I just haven’t lived (long) enough to fully appreciate it. I dunno…