Review: Where The Wild Things Are (2009)

Where The Wild Things Are (2009)

3.5

ADVENTURE

U.S. Release Date: 10/16/09

Running Length: 94 minutes

MPAA Classification: PG (Thematic Elements, Action and Language)

Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Cast: Max Records, Catherine Keener; voices: James Gandolfini, Paul Dano, Catherine O'Hara, Forest Whitaker, Chris Cooper

Director: Spike Jonze

Screenplay: Spike Jonze & Dave Eggers, (book by Maurice Sendak)

Cinematography: Lance Acord

Music: Carter Burwell, Karen O

U.S. Distributor: Warner Bros.

Review by: Carter Moulton, for The State News

10/16/09

“Let the wild rumpus start!”

Whether because of a snowball to the face, no ice cream after dinner, or a nick on the knee, getting upset about the little things is a part of childhood. In Maurice Sendak’s novel “Where the Wild Things Are,” a boy named Max sails to a faraway land to escape his anger after being sent to his room. Seven “Wild Things” inhabit this land and as Max learns more about them, he discovers the reasons behind his anger. In Spike Jonze’s film adaptation, Max (Max Records) discovers even more.

Max befriends the seven creatures after convincing them he is a king with almighty powers. The most central “Wild Thing” is Carol (voiced by James Gandolfini), who shares Max’s simplemindedness and frustration toward the world. Max and Carol, who find themselves deep within each other’s loneliness, decide to build a fort for the group of eight to live, a place “where only the things you want to happen would happen.”

Since they are figments of his imagination, every conflict and every feeling the “Wild Things” experience can be traced back to Max’s own soul; the “Things” overreact, have short-term memories, and act without thinking—all components of Max’s being.

Sendak’s novel consists of only nine sentences, but Jonze and co-writer Dave Eggers find a way to stretch the original material out, filling in the holes with imaginative ideas. Not all films are so successful at contributing new ideas to source material (Mike Myers and The Cat in the Hat anyone?).

You can see that Jonze, whose résumé includes the wonderfully quirky Being John Malkovich, was ecstatic to work with Sendak’s novel because of the creative freedom it gave him. It’s as if Sendak said to Jonze, just as Carol says to Max, “This is all yours. You’re the owner of this world.”

The film is beautifully shot. Stars pop from the night sky as Max sails the sea, snow resembles those same stars in the forest, and grass patches move with the breeze on top of the sandy shorelines. The set design also is breathtaking throughout, especially the miniature village Carol builds with twigs and clay. Jonze’s handheld camera approach can be distracting, especially when Max is running around in circles, which is something he does quite often. That being said, the shaky camera brings us closer to Max’s perspective, and as Max begins to understand his fears and frustrations, Jonze calls us to do the same.

About halfway through the picture I realized I was viewing this film the wrong way. I was caught up, thinking very literally and wondering why characters were behaving the way they were. Then I decided to let go—this is a boy's vision. I took in the beautiful images. I saw the loneliness and self-discovery of a young child in Jonze’s film. And I traveled to where the wild things are.