I typed a few words trying to begin this review. Then I deleted them because they didn’t feel right. I tried again, and failed. Yet again, the same thing. What I soon realized is that I’ve never, or very rarely, had this much trouble starting a movie review. Well, what does that say about the movie at hand? In this case, I still don’t know how to exactly describe it. Where the Wild Things Are isn’t my favorite movie of all-time. It’s not my automatic bid for picture of the year. But it’s captured my thoughts and emotions thoroughly and completely – both while viewing it, and now the day after.
What I find myself doing is thinking about it over and over, drawing different feelings out of what I saw.
One of the simplest reasons I can give to people on why I rank movies higher than others is this: how appealing is the movie to view again…and again…and again in the future. For Wild Things, I already want to see it in theaters for a second time. But to reiterate, is this the most complex and beautiful movie ever? No. But perhaps it feels like it because every single element worked beyond my wildest expectations. It was beautiful. It was heart-wrenching. It was heartwarming. It was thoughtful. It looked simply phenomenal. I can’t seem to say enough about it, even if I can’t quite grasp every little piece that was put into the running time.

Maurice Sendak's extremely short children's book, a cult classic, is not for the young, but rather the hearts and minds of adults. (Warner Bros/aceshowbiz.com)
Now that I’ve explained that much, let me tell you a bit about the movie itself; this is a movie review after all. So rarely do movies come close to being as great as the books they’re based off of. The book in the limelight here is a children’s book, a short one at that. Many of the pages are purely illustrations. Maurice Sendak’s book however, has reached cult status, and has been revered as a classic for a number of generations. Somehow, in the few words he chose, he conveyed messages far deeper than anything meant for a small child. Somehow, he got across to the heart of adults. The book is beautiful, but if the movie’s screenplay doesn’t get nominated for an Oscar, that’s an outrage. Taking a 3-minute-to-read book and turning it into a 94-minute motion picture is a feat that few can conquer. But quickly, to let you understand what kind of book and subject matter the movie deals with, I want to look back on an interview with Sendak that HBO recently did (the interview was actually conducted by Spike Jonze, director of the film).
Maurice Sendak is a sad man – there are no two ways around it. He lives purely for his artwork and his words, nothing more it seemed. His expression was that of hopelessness as he discussed that the only time he feels worthwhile and generally good, is when he’s drawing or writing. But then he said something like this: when he dies, what’s the point? what did it all matter? It’s just over anyway. He is an artist, and like so many of his fellow craftsmen, he is a sad soul. You could see it on his face and hear it on his voice. Then, out of nowhere and out of context it seemed, he said that he could never escape writing about childhood. Because that was living, in its fullest. That’s what he remembered.

The lack of CGI or fancy animation, combined with amazing settings and camerawork, made it a marvel just to look at. (Warner Bros/aceshowbiz.com)
So, now, finally to the movie. What must first be acknowledged is the way Jonze went about putting the movie together. First, many of the shots were captured via hand held camera, to give it a real sensation. It looked incredible, and the camerawork was fantastic. The creatures though, the wild things, were what gave the movie the human feeling. Weird sentence right? Rather than using CGI or 3-D animation or some other crazy Hollywood trick, it was just large costumes, with performers inside them. The voices were “human”, their feelings were ours. We shared in everything they did and felt, despite the appearance. These days, Hollywood spits out animated features with voice work done by actors that sounds completely awful, or just bland at best. But in Wild Things, I heard Carol (James Gandolfini) yearn for love.
The connections between Max’s (the main character) world and his imagination of the wild things world draw parallels to us, our lives, and the simplest of human emotion. Why do people ignore you? What does it feel like to be rejected? Why don’t the ones who say they love you, truly act like they love you? What, really, is a true family? These are not questions to be addressed in a movie for children. It’s a dark journey we take with Max and his friends. Perhaps this is why so many parents are refusing to go to this film.

Between Max's world and his imagination, lie the emotional questions and offerings we face in our own lives. (Warner Bros/aceshowbiz.com)
Through Max, and his reflection in each of the wild things, you gradually feel a lot of emotion rushing around. Sitting there, you can’t help but well up. To put it simply, it’s heartbreaking, and beautiful, all in the same scene. It will get to you, because not only do we feel for the characters, but we feel, and think of ourselves. To create such a parallel is amazing, and so much good can be said about the job Spike Jonze and his writers did on this movie.
This has to be the end of my review. I feel like I rambled on for far too long and maybe went off on a tangent or two. I think it’s because I still can’t fully understand all of Where the Wild Things Are quite yet. But what I’m starting to realize more and more is this: it’s a truly beautiful movie, from start to finish. I know I provided you with little to go on in terms of the movie itself in this review, but it’s tough to capture in words. It’s not my favorite movie of the year, or of all-time. Maybe if I understand it more, I’ll have to make an editors note and change this review. I’m going to give it 3 1/2 stars out of 4. Four-star movies are instant classics that live on forever for me. For now, this is not in that category. But maybe someday it will be.
(By the way, as I finished, I honestly forgot – Jonze somehow created immense amounts of humor throughout the film. It was laugh out loud stuff, but cleverly done, not forced at all.)
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE: ![]()
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(out of 4)
Filed under: Movie review | Tagged: where the wild things are, spike jonze, dave eggers, maurice sendak, catherine keener, chris cooper, forest whitaker, james gandolfini | Leave a Comment »




(out of 4)




(out of 4)



