Mary and Max

Mary and Max is currently streaming in the US on Hulu and Philo, and it delivers exactly the kind of comedy that earns a loyal following. The length is exactly right for the story it is telling — nothing rushed, nothing dragged out. An 8/10 rating says what the writing already makes obvious: this one works. Toni Collette is the obvious draw, but the whole ensemble earns its laughs. There is no real reason to keep putting it off — it is right there on Hulu.

Mary and Max arrived without much fanfare and built its audience the hard way — through word of mouth. Mary and Max does what great comedies rarely manage — it is actually funny, consistently, across the whole run. 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. Toni Collette and Philip Seymour Hoffman lead a cast with the timing to make it work. Mary and Max came out in 2009. Mary and Max earns its laughs from character rather than situation, which is why it does not wear thin the way pure farce tends to. It rarely drops the ball, and when it does, it recovers fast.

Mary and Max is the kind of thing you put on in the background and end up fully watching. It has built its own audience without needing a direct comparison. Short enough to finish in one sitting, substantial enough to feel satisfying. Toni Collette's comic timing carries it through its weaker moments. The kind of comedy you recommend to someone who claims they do not watch much.