Review - "Where the Wild Things Are": Too Wild or Too Tame?

After over 45 years of publication, it's quite astounding to think that, while several directors have tried to adapt it to the screen, Maurice Sendak's classic children's picture book "Where the Wild Things Are" has never been made into a movie, until now. But is Spike Jonze's film the right one? The answer is yes, but with reservations.

The story centers around Max (Max Records), a young boy who feels utterly alone. His sister's friends pick on him and she doesn't do anything about it, and his mom (Catherine Keener) seems to prefer spending time with her new boyfriend rather than her son. After a violent fight with his mother, Max runs away, finds a boat, and sails to a fantastical world where he encounters a group of, well, wild things. The creatures, all wonderfully voice by actors including James Gandolfini and Catherine O'Hara, immediately adopt Max and make him their king. At first, it seems to be a fun, perfect world for Max and his new friends, but it soon becomes apparent that the wild things have just as many problems, if not more, than Max does.

Now, here's a disclaimer for all you families who think you're going to take your kids to a funny little family film: this is not a children's movie. Rather, it is a drama about childhood, and the feelings of isolation and not fitting in that accompany it. That's not to say that kids won't enjoy it. There are some bits that are quite funny, but overall, this is an adult movie with adult themes.

That's not exactly the reason why I'm not as thrilled with this movie as I'd like to be. I will say that Spike Jonze and screenwriter Dave Eggers do an amazing job crafting a film with such complex themes from a book that is only nine sentences long. Records, who plays Max, beautifully embodies the complexities of his character, and the visuals are stunning, the creatures in particular. Their eyes are so expressive that they really look real. But what is most impressive is how Jonze and Eggers draw parallels between Max's home life, depicted in the beginning of the film, to his life in the imaginary world of the wild things. These similarities are subtle at first, but become more apparent and intense as the story progresses. There's loneliness, fighting, and misunderstanding, but, like all families, there's love underlying it all, and that, among the many themes running throughout the story, seems to be the film's core, and what Max takes away with him in the end.

And yet the movie comes off as almost too plodding, too moody. I hate to diss a movie that takes such a radical departure from the mainstream family film, but the creature's moods are so erratic and the pacing so slow that the plot ultimately remains pretty uninteresting. There are several individual scenes between the creatures and Max that are quite nice, even breathtaking, but as a whole they don't bring enough spice to the picture.

Still, there's a lot that can be taken from this film, and it is worth seeing, if only once.

2 ½ out of 4 stars. Runtime: 94 minutes. Rated PG for mild thematic elements, some adventure action and brief language.