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“Where the Wild Things Are”
Directed by: Spike Jonze
Released: 10/16
Rated: PG
Starring: Max Records, Catherine Keener, Voices: James Gandolfini, Lauren Ambrose, Chris Cooper
Rating: A-
One of the year’s best films is based off a children’s book with only 10 lines.
Director Spike Jonze and screenwriter Dave Eggers created a two-hour film from all the best elements of Maurice Sendak’s classic, “Where the Wild Things Are.”
This is not a film for children — it is about them. The whole film respects the wild mind of the 9-year-old child, both romanticizing and breaking down the fears within children.
Max (Records) is the child of a single mother (Keener) raising her son and teenage daughter. With a tumultuous home life, Max escapes it by engaging his fruitful imagination. The child is constantly building things and erecting forts, longing for someone to share his time with him.
When his mother brings a date (Mark Ruffalo) home, and Max can no longer get his mother’s attention, he rebels hard. He jumps on counters and runs through the house, eventually biting his mother on the shoulder. This leads to a scene of breakdown from Keener pleading with Max to explain to her: “What is wrong with you?” Max then jets out of the house, sprints down streets and scoots under fences, eventually stopping at a body of water and a tiny boat.
As Max travels through what looks like a vast ocean, he arrives at an island. Following his curiosities he makes his way to a group of fires. He stumbles upon some large creatures, or wild things. Max declares himself the king of these creatures, telling them he has magic powers and the ability to rid their world of sadness.
Life on the island is splendid until some unrest begins to rumble among the creatures, throwing Max into a situation of problem solving and caring he has never encountered. Jonze expertly directs the child actor through a series of heartbreaking scenarios.
From the first shaky camera frame, the film never lets up. The creatures are all large puppets, giving the film an interesting, dark look because of its lack of any animation. Max’s imaginary world is a landscape that could exist in the mind of any child.
The creatures are all fully realized beings. They are humorous and sad, sharing the same problems Max was facing at his home. All of the voice work here is spectacular. The cast, from Gandolfini to Ambrose, brings a child-like innocence to huskier, adult voices.
The film’s dark humor and teardrop-inducing story will polarize some. It shouldn’t stop anybody from experiencing the film though.
With the dreck audiences have been sitting through all summer, this film is a supreme, thought-invoking piece.
Luke McCormick can be reached
at 536-3311 ext. 275.
