When I began to watch Max, I found that a lot of the elements didn’t work. All the actors were from different regions so some sounded German, British, American, etc. I thought that the portrait of a young Hitler was too much on the side of caricature: he looks practically green, his physical and vocal demeanor is depicted almost to the point of parody with nonstop declaiming & denouncing and is basically the young version of the monster that we imagine, not necessarily what he was before he became one. No one would find this guy appealing, not even initially. However John Cusack somehow managed with his limited facial acting range but physical grace, depth of emotion and pitch perfect delivery to glide this movie into a moving portrait. It also doesn’t hurt that the movie is visually stunning and sumptuous thus making the past feel like the present. Instead of treating it with sepia tones and other bits of visual nostalgia, every scene is vibrant and beautiful tableaux while filled with seemingly innocuous bits of foreboding such as teddy bears with a paw up-eerie echoes of the Nazi salute. As someone who has been in and outside of similar art circles, I recognized this world. This film basically echoes a lot about what I believe regarding what art should be, a reflection of true emotion and experience, and that everyone has potential and our duty is to get as close as possible to be the person that God wanted us to be with the unfortunate understanding that many may not do so. Max and Hitler are polar opposites, but forged from the same fire. Max has a voice, loves everything, but is physically unable to accomplish what he wants so he constantly encourages others to do so while trying to find a way to do so himself whereas Hitler is essentially afraid of his real inner voice so he echoes whatever is around him, denounces or finds everything disgusting though he is physically able to accomplish his dreams and has the energy and drive to do so. It is a Greek tragedy set in modern times but filled with a lot of joy and humor. The end is predictable, and I think a bit of a mistake because eventually Hitler would have found out what happened, and I think that may have resulted in something different happening than what unfolded in reality, but it is one person’s imagination and since it seems to have come from a good place, I’ll let my criticism slip through my fingers and commence clapping.