Eric Fuerst (her69eyes)

Over this past decade, it's become clearer than ever that animation isn't just for kids. We've seen challenging rotoscoping phenomenons like "Waking Life" and "Waltz with Bashir", a handful of Pixar masterpieces, and even some lovely surprises from Dreamworks. Although artists like Miyazaki have been pushing the limits of animation for decades, it's only recently that the artform has been taken seriously by a mainstream American audience.

"Mary and Max" is the latest example of an animated effort that offers more to adults than most contemporary live action films possibly could. The film, dealing with urban isolation, anxiety, and loneliness, isn't exactly children's fare - it's language can be coarse, it's visuals disturbing. But beneath the unique look of the film, there's a heart that beats wilder than just about anything released this year.

Mary Daisy Dinkle (Bethany Whitmore as a child, Toni Collette as an adult) is a lonely eight-year-old girl living in Australia. One day, she picks an address out of a New York phone book in order to pose a question to an American. Her mother has told her that babies come out of beer glasses in Australia - but, in America, does that mean babies come out of soda cans?

Her letter is received by a lonely, obese, Jewish man named Max Jerry Horowitz (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Max, suffering from Aspergers syndrome, doesn't make much sense of crowded city life, and thus he finds solace in chocolate hot dogs and his jars of toenail clippings. Together, the two pen pals bond over candy and cartoons - forming a loving, much-needed friendship.

The visuals are marvelous. The easy way to describe the look of the film is to suggest "Wallace & Grombit", but this claymation gets even more out of it's remarkable use of color. The environments - Australia in brown, New York in black and white - are rich and impeccably crafted.

But beyond the excitement found in the animation, it's filmmaker Adam Elliot's heart-warming and gut-bustingly hilarious script that makes "Mary and Max" a delight. Try not to laugh as a heavily-accented Philip Seymour Hoffman mutters: "Do you have a favourite-sounding word? My top 5 are ointment, bumblebee, Vladivostok, banana and testicle."

The world of "Mary and Max" is simply alive - this is pure cinematic magic. Although the film had it's faults - it's running time, in particular - I loved every inch of it. Warts and all.

"The Merry Gentleman", on paper, sounds unbearably familiar - a suicidal hitman. A beautiful girl with a haunted past. Sprinkle in some hefty religious symbolism. And, for the first fifteen minutes or so, you'll likely be thinking "what have I gotten myself into?" Gradually, however, through a great deal of patience and a quiet tenderness, "The Merry Gentleman" establishes itself as more than a serviceable character study - one that neglects convention more than it lives up to it.

The film marks the directorial debut of Michael Keaton (yes, that Michael Keaton). Originally attached as the lead, Keaton found himself in the director's chair after screenwriter Ron Lazzeretti fell ill. He's pulling double-duty, also playing one of the film's leads, and as a director Keaton gets more of a performance out of himself than we've seen in a long time.

A lonely Chicagoan, Kate Frazier (Kelly Macdonald), has just fled an abusive husband. One night, after leaving the office where she works as a receptionist, she spots a man on top of a building. She, assuming he will jump, yells. He, startled, stumbles back to safety. The next day, she learns that a sniper had shot a man that same night, presumably from the same rooftop. Not long after, she meets a suspicious stranger with a brutal cough, Frank Logan (Michael Keaton).

Eventually, as we can only expect, Kate and Frank develop a friendship. The beauty of this relationship, however, is that Keaton never opts to present this material with any sort of sexual tension. It's a gentle, innocent friendship - Kate, lonely herself, has landed a sad puppy in her lap. Meanwhile, the officer working on Kate's case (Tom Bastounes) decides to give her a call - personal matters, not business.

"The Merry Gentleman" is elevated by it's terrific performers. Alongside the great work by the three leads (Macdonald in particular), Bobby Canavale shows up for a small, but memorable scene.

The dialogue has a tendency to be far too obvious, and the film has a tonal struggle balancing bleak existentialism with comedy, but "The Merry Gentleman" is a largely inoffensive effort. Although Keaton just happened into the director's seat, hopefully he returns to it willingly in the near future.