Written by Pollo Misterioso
It was over forty years ago that Maurice Sendak’s story of a rambunctious child named Max visited the land of the Wild Things. Over four decades, this story has been brought to the bedrooms of children everywhere and now director Spike Jonze has brought it to the silver screen. Staying true to the book, Where the Wild Things Are beautifully captures what it means to be a child, but it may not be as universally fulfilling as the children’s book.
This is the first time that director Spike Jonze and screenwriter Dave Eggers have partnered together. Eggers is an interesting choice, being that he is new to screenwriting but is a famous novelist and the founder of the publishing house McSweeney’s. Together they took on the difficult task of making a feature-length film from a loved, simple story. Credit must be given to Eggers for staying true to the book, only expanding on the ideas that were given. But herein lies the problem; the book does not give much text to work with. Within the world of the children’s story it is simple and compelling for both children and parents but the film takes on the larger theme leaving it only for the adults to understand.
Max is introduced as a creative and emotional child. He can make up stories on the spot but cries when things do not go his way. It is when his mother, played by the lovely Katherine Keener, scolds him that he lashes out by biting her and then running away. After running through a forest, he comes to a boat that he boards and sets sail to anywhere. He arrives at the land of the Wild Things and watches as Carol, one of the beasts, breaks houses in rage. To avoid being eaten, Max tells them that he is a king and they make him king of the Wild Things. The fun begins as they sleep in piles together and throw dirt clods at one another. But when Max is unable to fix all the problems of the Wild Things, it is discovered that he is not a king and he needs to return to his mother.
There are six Wild Things, all with their own personality that grow on you slowly, like a good friend. Carol (James Gandolfini) takes Max under his wing because he believes that Max can keep away the sadness and loneliness that has settled on the Wild Things. Carol has the idea of building a place where everyone is happy and Max decides that they should build it. But the different personalities of the Wild Things create friction within the group. Judith (Catherine O’Hara) is always negative and KW (Lauren Ambrose) does not want to be a part of the arguing any longer. The imperfections of the group start to chip away at their idea of happiness.
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