‘Let the wild rumpus start!’

October 19, 2009 by Eric Loy 

Visionary Spike Jonze gives a classic kids book an imaginative recreation

Given such a meager piece of source material – a nine-sentence children’s book – director Spike Jonze’s “Where the Wild Things Are” film adaptation is something of a monumental achievement.

The classic story being devoid of all those little niceties like plot and meaningful dialogue allows for Jonze to fill in all the holes with his ideas of what the story means, but more importantly, what it’s like to be a 9-year-old kid.

“Where the Wild Things Are” begins with an unruly kid named Max, played by Max Records. He’s the typical nine-year-old – building forts, shouting orders at imaginary soldiers and throwing snowballs. He’s also a bundle of emotions. The youngest in a family headed by a single mom, he constantly tries to fill his need for attention from family members and sometimes this effort manifests itself violently.

One of these violent outbursts in which Max, in the full wolf-costume regalia, shouts “I’m going to eat you up!” at his mother, is the reason for Max’s escape. He runs out the door, down the street and finds himself at the water’s edge in a little sailboat.

Sailing, Max eventually lands in a mystical land full of strange-looking beasts that, as we find out, aren’t too different from Max. Carol, the main creature, voiced by James Gandolfini, serves as Max’s Wild Thing counterpart. Creative, emotional, seeking attention and resorting to destruction when things don’t go his way, Carol inadvertently teaches Max some lessons about distance and being respectful (especially about getting eaten). Don’t worry, Max still makes it home in time for a late supper.

Jonze renders author Maurice Sendak’s world beautifully. Rich and diverse, not much is artificially added to the land of the Wild Things, save for the Things themselves. Speaking of those creatures, an elegant combination of state-of-the-art puppetry and CGI allows for some terrifyingly beautiful Wild Things.

Really bringing those Wild Things to life is the superb voicing provided by veterans like Galdofini, Catherine O’Hara as Judith, Forest Whitaker as Ira, Chris Cooper as Douglas and young guns Paul Dano as Alexander and Lauren Ambrose as KW. Their characterization is as starkly beautiful as the rest of the film – no jazzed-up kiddie pandering here. It’s simple, intriguing and effective.

At times, the 94-minute feature feels a little long. The story keeps shifting, but the same emotional roller coaster ride, first by Max and then by the Wild Things, starts to feel little redundant.

It’s not a perfect movie, but it is a great one. Jonze’s artistic insight breathes substantive life into a classic children’s book, creating an authentic world of emotion and imagination. It’s a child’s world, lacking logic and sense, but Jonze’s assertion seems to be that it’s still honest and valid.