Where the Wild Things Are

(2009)

Directed by

Spike Jonze

Review by Todd Plucknett

Posted - 10/21/09

As a child, there was no book that I loved more than Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are. When I heard that a film was being made based on the book, I was seriously skeptical, until I heard that Spike Jonze’s mind was behind it. With only two features to Jonze’s credit, the brilliant Being John Malkovich and the masterpiece Adaptation, the film could not have been in better hands. I was totally moved and immersed in this celebration of filmmaking and imagination. I am not sure if I have seen a better film this year.

The story is a classic. Max (Max Records) is a young adventurous boy struggling with his broken home. After a series of bad events before dinner one night, he runs away and creates his own world. In that world, there are giant wild things that speak, and to avoid getting eaten, he tells them that he is a king. Always looking for a strong ruler that can create happiness throughout the land, they crown Max as their new king.

This is the most beautiful film in years. It is so genuine, so heartfelt, and so meaningful. It is the perfect representation of what it is like to be a kid. It was like I knew Max, like I was Max. The first half hour or so is almost dialogue-free, just showing Max build a fort in his bedroom, an igloo in the deep snow, getting into fights, being a loudmouth, even playing “hot lava monster”. Lance Acord’s cinematography is breathtaking. Every image once Max gets to the island where the wild things are is stunning.

This is not simply a child’s film, which doesn’t surprise me at all. Children will thrill and get caught up in the wild things and random snowball/dirt clog fights, but it is equally appealing to anyone who has ever had a childhood and an imagination. It is fairly dark. Max is heartbroken over his broken home. The wild things are also equally emotional, each taking on the characterization of a child. The main one is Carol (James Gandolfini), who just wants his family together. He is like a child who doesn’t want his parent to get remarried and just wants his current family to be close. Alexander (Paul Dano) is like the young brother who always gets pushed around by the older siblings for fun. KW (Lauren Ambrose) is the step-sister trying to get accepted as part of the family. You truly begin to feel for each one of the wild things. They are characters in themselves. How they interact is just like a family in crisis.

The voice work is incredible. James Gandolfini gives perhaps the best voice performance of the decade. Catherine O’Hara is superb. Paul Dano and Chris Cooper work well together. Lauren Ambrose and Forest Whitaker are excellent. Then there is the young Max Records, whose performance is wise beyond his years. Catherine Keener is emotional as the mother, and they somehow got the always awesome Mark Ruffalo to have one line. I adored this cast.

This was obviously a passion piece for writer-director Spike Jonze. I totally responded to the erratic childhood of Max and to the situations that the wild things got into. As the film goes on, it only gets stronger and more breathtaking. I cannot believe that they pulled off some of those closing scenes. Those scenes were so good that I was almost in tears. It is such a beautiful and usual story. I loved every moment of it.

Now, where will this end up in the eyes of the Academy? I am not sure. I haven’t lost complete faith in them. If they give this a nom for Best Picture, I will be ecstatic. I am only assuming a director nom will be in order, though, like Jonze has gotten previously for his innovative work on Being John Malkovich. The film has already gotten top praise from my most respected critics Michael Phillips, A.O. Scott, and Peter Travers. The ones who didn’t like it have no heart. Maybe they just don’t like to be moved by a film that seems like it is for kids. It is like Monster’s Inc. in that way, actually. This could just as easily been brought to the screen as an animated film, but I am so glad that Jonze got his hands on it. It is the most personal, most gorgeous, and most heartbreaking film I have seen in quite some time. The imagination is unmatched here. I am a firm lover of the book, and I cannot imagine a more fitting adaptation of it.

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