Where The Wild Things Are

Where The Wild Things Are is a welcome step away from the deranged comedies that made Spike Jonze’s name, and sees him attempting that perennial classic American cinema staple: heartfelt sentiment.

Max is a lonely and sensitive boy who craves the attention of his sister and mother – all the time. His misplaced energy and anger gets him into trouble. During a flare up, Max bites his mother then runs out of the house setting sail to a foreign land where he meets the wild things – a collection of odd monsters with childlike personalities. And that’s about it. A major criticism in other reviews is Jonze’s film has no proper narrative. It is an unfair assessment. It does tell a story, but it doesn’t unfold in the traditional way. The script, co-written with author Dave Eggers is deceptively simple. It is the thematic concerns and character interaction that are important: not some grand silly adventure. The film’s lack of clearly defined objectives is one of its virtues.

Max’s friendships with Carol and KW, in particular, is very touching. Carol (voiced by James Gandolfini) is the creature who needs something to believe in ever so desperately. Douglas and Alexander (Chris Cooper and Paul Dano) see right through the lie from its inception, but keep quiet for the sake of Carol. You see, Carol has a rather violent and erratic disposition. At one point, he threatens to eat Max – it is a hollow threat, but the creeping doubt he could is hard to shake.

The two greatest joys of this fable lie within its cinematic verve and production design. The cast is uniformly excellent, too. Catherine O’Hara as the pessimistic Judith shines in all her scenes. Jonze has made a fine career from his unique creativity and started off in music promos before graduating to film. He’s made so many classic videos its hard to keep count. The approach to Where The Wild Things Are is restrained and it serves the film well. There is still the odd surrealist flourish here and there. One involves a giant dog walking across a desert and another involves Max meeting Richard the Raccoon inside the stomach of a wild thing. In toning down the outright weirdness, Jonze reveals depths of charm and sincerity lacking in his other two films. It has been a passion project for its director. He refused to compromise an inch – leading to confrontations with Warner Bros. They needn’t have worried too much as it is a classy picture. One, too, that may become a classic.

Its children’s book origin belies a dark, melancholy heart. This isn’t a film about kids or particularly for them. Instead Sendak, Jonze and Eggers serve up a movie about how children grow and try to make sense of the world. It is very easy to read the wild things as parts of Max’s personality. The characters are at turns caring, loving, argumentative, aloof, violent and destructive. It’s a film that may have a greater effect on adults mourning lost childhoods. Don’t be surprised if you see the grown ups blubbering away and not their kids. Where The Wild Things Are might even scare the youngest members of the audience. Judith tells Max before he sails off back home: “You’re the only king we didn’t eat.”

Just as Max’s mother makes promises to her son she can’t keep. Max lies to the wild things and suffers the consequences. The idyll slowly becomes complicated. Max’s imagination gets him into trouble. Even the magical time he spends with his new friends sours. Nothing can ever remain the same. It’s no fairytale, put it that way.

Jonze has managed to do something new and refreshing with his career: make a beautiful movie. It is an emotional trip, but probably not the one you’d expect. Special mention, too, for Karen O and the Kids’ track – “All is Love” – one of the downright loveliest of the year.

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Tags: Catherine O'Hara, Dave Eggers, James Gandolfini, Karen O, Maurice Sendak, Paul Dano, Spike Jonze, Where The Wild Things Are