 Every once and a while there is a movie that manages to sneak up under your skin and affect you in ways you didn't think it could. It's a movie with a message—but don't they all have messages? This message, though, manages to stealthily work its way inside you, bypass all rational thought, slide past the shell surrounding your bitter, jaded heart, and leave you deeply entranced. Where the Wild Things Are managed to circumvent my emotional defenses and tap right into the mainline of the nine-year-old kid inside me. More after the jump... Spike Jonze teamed up with Dave Eggers to write the script, based on Maurice Sendak’s picture book, about rambunctious, disobedient Max who travels to the land of the Wild Things and gets adopted as their king. Jonze has definitely created his own vision, but he has also stayed true to the dark and lonely nature of Sendak's original text (all 350 words of it). Max (Max Records) lives in a world of his own, but the world he lives in is one of isolation and loneliness. His mother (Catherine Keener) tries to juggles family, work, and a dating life, while Max's sister has grown just old enough to have lost her childish wonder and imagination, leaving Max to create his own adventures. After a bust up with his mom, Max runs away and sails to the land of the Wild Things, where he is absolute ruler of everything and anything he wants. It's difficult to find a place to begin. Records is Max; he is a gem of a little actor and creates this emotional core that is relatable to everyone. His characterization receives a tremendous boost by cinematographer, Lance Acord, who follows Max with tight hand held shots to capture the energy bounding out of our midget king of the Wild Things. But Acord outdoes himself at every turn by capturing the majesty of the island of the wild things, from the dark scary forests to the beautiful sunsets on the beach. And the wild things! Oh man are they amazing. Jim Henson’s puppetry combined with modern CGI should become the standard for every special effect creature for the rest of time. Not once do you feel like you are being tricked by a computer, and you will never tire of marveling at how spectacular these creatures are. All of the voice actors really shine, but James Gandolfini as Carol actually had me choked up at one point. The script is pretty spot on, with a worthy argument of it being sometimes a little slow for the young’uns. But having Max deal with so many childish aspects of himself, represented in each wild thing, only to rise above and be the grownup was a stroke of genius. The tearful goodbye at the end isn't just Max saying goodbye to his friends, it's him growing up and saying goodbye to youth. It could not have seemed more heartbreaking. The Karen O. and the Kids soundtrack is also haunting and wonderful. Prepare yourself, though; this movie is weird and layered. It's not just a kids’ film—it’s an auteur taking on mainstream media to basically make an independent art movie, and it's beautiful. If you're taking the kiddies, brace yourself, this is a spooky, challenging, bizarre picture for them, but it's also a marvelous and rewarding one. --Greg MacLennan CommentsLisa 10/14/2009 17:42
Wow. Can't wait to see. Great job, Greg. 03/10/2011 20:24
Looking back, I have this to regret, that too often when I loved, I did not say so. Do you agree? 06/08/2011 22:54
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