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?

All of the water scenes were created with lubricant.

Narrator:
[last lines] He smelt like licorice and old books, she thought to herself, as tears rolled from her eyes, the color of muddy puddles.

Anachronisms: The film states the year is 1976 and Max is seen playing with a Rubik's Cube. However Rubik only invented the cube in 1974 and the first test batches of the product were only produced in late 1977 and released to Budapest toy shops. Rubik did not sign a contract with Ideal Toys until 1979 to commercially produce the toy.