Where The Wild Things Are

Director: Spike Jonze
Writers: Spike Jonze, Dave Eggers, Maurice Sendak(author)
Starring: Max Records, James Gandolfini
Release Date: October 16, 2009
Length: 1 hour 41 minutes









Simplicity always works. And when it comes to turning a beloved children’s tale into a motion picture, simplicity is key. After almost 50 years, Where The Wild Things Are is being made into a movie. Most people haven’t been waiting for it to become a movie. In fact, most people probably didn’t want it to become a movie. But this film didn’t alter or upset my view of the book, and I don’t think it did to many others either. Acclaimed director, Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation) took a big risk with this film. If he had done this film using more of his creations, more people might have gotten angry, but by being extremely faithful to the book, the film came off to me as somewhat boring at parts. The famous story is obviously about the young boy who imagines his own world full of creatures and incredible things, after having a fight and running away from his single mom (Catherine Keener). In this land he comes across, he makes friends and becomes king to a group of Huge, Ugly, Wild things.  At first, it seemed to me as though Spike Jonze was trying too hard to make it seem like they didn’t try hard at all, with the long pauses and almost handheld camera like shots. I realized toward the end of the film that the makers of the film did not actually try hard, and not in a bad way. I mean to say that they didn’t play up or overdo anything. They kept most of the story and special effects simple and easy to understand. A lot of people hated the idea of this movie, because they believed it to be too arty or indie and I myself came close to that response, but I believe if Spike Jonze or any other director had made this a CGI filled, 3D, IMAX, family blockbuster, it would have completely ruined everyone’s perception of the book. It is so incredibly inspiring when a children’s fantasy can evoke more realism to the screen than any other films that have come out recently.  The way these characters (including the wild things) speak to one another is unlike any dialogue I ever heard.  When I think about how people actually talk to each other in the real world, this film pops into my head. They speak so naturally, it almost seems as if the actors have improvised all their lines. Not only is the dialogue real, but also the story is easy to relate to and even the beasts themselves look and sound real. James Gandolfini, Catherine O’Hara and Lauren Ambrose deliver fantastic voice work as the main monsters. Ms.O’Hara, specifically was fun to listen to.  Max Records, who plays the main character, Max, was absolutely phenomenal and I think captured everyone’s view on the character from the book. Where The Wild Things Are is a book I never expected to come to the big screen, but Spike Jonze took on the challenge, and succeeded in making me enjoy this movie.