Mary & Max - 2009

Director: Adam Elliot

Writer: Adam Elliot

Starring: Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Eric Bana

"Dr. Bernard Hazelhof said if I was on a desert island, then I would have to get used to my own company - just me and the coconuts. He said I would have to accept myself, my warts and all, and that we don't get to choose our warts. They are part of us and we have to live with them. We can, however, choose our friends, and I am glad I have chosen you." In the late 1970s, upon being neglected continuously by her parents, the Australian eight-year-old Mary (Collette) picks a name out of a New York City phone book and finds a pen pal in Max (Hoffman), a 44-year-old Jewish man suffering from Asperger's Syndrome.

The problem with most animated films? They get written for a child audience. There's no reason why you can't write a plot about sophisticated topics that appeals to adults, and this is exactly that. In fact, I'd go as far as to say it's the best animated film I've ever seen. "But Carter," you say, "if that's the case, it should have gotten an Academy Award nomination, at least!" I could go on and on about the films that get snubbed by the Academy, but it's much simpler in this case: this film NEVER got released in the US, hence it was ineligible. Thank goodness for Netflix. See it ASAP and get ready to love it. A+