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.
Short storyline
In the mid-1970's, a homely, friendless Australian girl of 8 picks a name out of a Manhattan phone book and writes to him; she includes a chocolate bar. She's Mary Dinkle, the only child of an alcoholic mother and a distracted father. He's Max Horowitz, living alone in New York, overweight, subject to anxiety attacks. He writes back, with chocolate. Thus begins a 20-year correspondence, interrupted by a stay in an asylum and a few misunderstandings. Mary falls in love with a neighbor, saves money to have a birthmark removed and deals with loss. Max has a friendship with a neighbor, tries to control his weight, and finally gets the dream job. Will the two ever meet face to face?
More info:
Runtime: Australia: 80 min | Germany: 92 min (Berlin International Film Festival) | USA: 92 min
Release Date: 9 April 2009 (Australia)
Country: Australia
Box office: Budget: AUD 8,240,000 (estimated). Opening Weekend: AUD 156,169 (Australia) (9 April 2009) (49 Screens)
Soundtrack: Russian Rag