Review and Trailer: Where the Wild Things Are

October 19, 2009 by Jane Boursaw

Movie: Where the Wild Things Are * Official Site	In Theaters: Oct. 16, 2009
Runtime: 94 minutes	Directed by: Spike Jonze
MPAA Rating: PG for mild thematic elements, some adventure action and brief language	Gecko Rating:

I may be one of the few people who hasn’t read the book by Maurice Sendak on which this movie is based. Or if I did, it was so long ago, I don’t remember it. At any rate, I liked the movie, not so much for the storyline, but for the incredible cinematography and CG animation of the wild things. They’re so expressive, and your eyes are just affixed to the screen every time they’re on. As for the storyline …

It follows a boy named Max (Max Records) who’s having some issues in life. He has a big imagination, but seems to have no friends. When his older sister Claire’s friends cave in Max’s snowfort, he bursts into tears, but they only drive away, and Claire (Pepita Emmerichs) does nothing to help Max feel better.

More after the jump…

Meanwhile, Max’s divorced mom (Catherine Keener) is seeing a guy (Mark Ruffalo), but Max is in no way onboard with this idea. Before dinner one night, he acts up, stands on top of the counter, and yells at his mom. I was thinking at the time that she needs to get a better handle on this kid. But she seems to have no control over him at all, and he runs off into the night, embarks on a journey across the sea, and lands on a distant island inhabited by all these “wild things,” where he’s crowned “King.”

Whether all of this takes place in Max’s mind, or whether it really happens, it’s not clear in the movie. I mean, it’s a fantasy movie, so anything could happen, but I got the feeling that he must have fallen asleep somewhere after he ran away, and the creatures represented what was going on in his mind.

At any rate, the wild things are these fantastical creatures, rather large with large heads and, in some instances, large bodies, too. They have their own hierarchical system: Carol (voiced by James Gandolfini) is sort of the leader. (All I could think whenever I heard his voice was, “There’s Tony Soprano.”) Then there’s Judith (Catherine O’Hara), Ira (Forest Whitaker), Alexander (Paul Dano), KW (Lauren Ambrose), Douglas (Chris Cooper), and The Bull (Michael Berry, Jr.). There’s some politics going on in the group, and they don’t all behave well.

So, my feeling is that Max created these creatures in his head, based on toys and things in his room, in order to deal with all the stuff in his life.

The story sort of meanders a bit; the creatures have little fall-outs and make-ups, and, like Max, Carol ends up being an emotional mess (really, both of these characters would probably benefit from a good therapist). As mentioned, for me the best part of this movie is the beautiful CG animation of the wild things. Their big faces are so expressive, and the lighting and settings – it was filmed in Australia — are simply gorgeous.

As for what ages this movie is appropriate for, there are a few scenes that might be scary for young kids: when Max gets out of control at his home, he trashes his sister’s room and yells at his mom, who angrily tries to grab him, but he gets out the door and runs down a dark street.

When Carol gets out of control in the fantasy world (again, “there’s Tony Soprano getting up in that creature’s face” – hopefully, young kids haven’t seen “The Sopranos”!), he smashes things, burns things, and the whole group participates in an intense dirt-clod “war,” in which some characters are injured. There’s also a more playful scene where trees are uprooted and characters are launched to and fro. And on his way to the island, Max travels through a storm and falls into the water before making his way to shore.

There’s occasional mild language, including “damn,” “hell,” “God,” and insults like “stupid.” Max’s mom has a guy over for dinner (complete waste of Mark Ruffalo’s 20 seconds of screen time), and the two kiss and drink wine in the living room while Max looks on from outside the room.

Overall, even with the gorgeous landscape, “Where the Wild Things Are” is a bit dark and violent for very young kids. For all of these reasons, I think the movie is appropriate for ages eight and older.

Check out the trailer…