Where the Wild Things Are

I tried for a while to find the book before I went to go see this movie, but it was to no avail. I felt like I remembered a good chunk of it --Kid gets sent to bed with no dinner, Kid meets wild things, rumpus, Kid gets lonely, Kid eats his dinner which is still hot. So I was able to enter the theater with a faint feeling of nostalgia. It also helped that I went with my friend's mom and she bought my ticket. Those were the days.

Spike Jonze was the perfect pick for this movie. In fact rumor has it that he was handpicked for this movie by Maurice Sendak, the author of the 1967 book. Jonze didn't have a lot to work with -- 10 sentences to be exact. So he took the story as a springboard and jumped into his own imagination.

Jonze tries to deal with some philosophical issues with this movie. The difficulties of being a child, the impossibility of pleasing everyone, the use of anger and the effects it has on the people around you but it doesn't feel preachy. The problem is the movie has the feel of a group therapy meeting. You don't feel childhood wonder, you wonder how much rope the goat will use to end it all.

All the monsters are much more developed, Jonze gives them names, personalities and social disorders. We also learn much more of Max's backstory a lonely child in a divorced family who often uses anger to solve his problems.

This movie is not for children. I got a little scared when when Carol, portrayed by James Gandolfini, loses it. And while these monsters may look like they pal around with H.R. Pufnstuf you almost expect the other members of the Sopranos to come out of the woods and take care of business. A child around Max's age will probably have to leave the theater, so the real audience is for people who were once children.

Jonze stated that he tried to frame this movie in the eyes of a 9-year-old. But really the movie is framed in the mind of an adult who is trying to understand a child. The movie does well for itself but it starts to lose some of its wonder towards the end. Overall the world that Jonze has created is a fantastic look into the imagination of adult who refuses to grow up. Its creation does not tarnish the book but rather stands as its own artistic statement. C