Where the Wild Things Are

A version of this review first appeared in The Murray State News.


Lately, it seems that Hollywood is mining my childhood for ideas. Between two Transformers movies, summer’s “G.I. Joe” debacle and the plethora of comic book movies, I had begun to imagine that my childhood was fairly tapped out. Then I started seeing trailers for “Where the Wild Things Are.” The trick, it seems, was going back further through my childhood.

“Where the Wild Things Are” is based on Maurice Sendak’s book of the same name. The book is an award-winning children’s classic that critics praise for it’s incredible depth, amazing considering the book consists of perhaps 10 sentences total.

Director Spike Jonze is a man of many talents, credited as helping to “write” T.V.’s “Jackass,” as well as directing films such as “Adaptation” and acting in “Three Kings.” However, nothing in that pedigree would suggest that Jonze is uniquely qualified to direct a children’s movie.

That could be because this movie is absolutely not for children.

I’m going to go ahead and repeat that: “Where the Wild Things Are” is not for kids.

That isn’t to say that the film is bad. In fact, it isn’t vastly different from the source material. Sendak himself said in the book “The Art of Maurice Sendak” that the book is about how children cope with their feelings.

It is that aspect that the film manages to really nail. The whole film is an almost frighteningly analytical look into the head of the main character, Max, a young boy who is struggling to cope with the fact that life, his in particular it seems, really sucks.

From the father who left him to the sister who is outgrowing him to the mother that cares but is too busy, Max’s family life is, to him, falling apart. Coupled with an astonishingly perceptive and imaginative mind, Max is left feeling isolated and freaked out, and he responds by raging against the world.

All of this is captured amazingly well. Max Records, the boy who plays Max, is excellent. He brings a range of incredibly genuine emotions to the screen. He really seems to have the weight of the world on his mind, but never loses his child-like innocence or sense of wonder. He flips back and forth between child and raging Wild Thing so well it’s almost scary. It is, no exaggeration, worth the price of admission just to watch this kid work.

There is a psychological aspect to the film that is, frankly, difficult to convey. Max has a particularly violent outburst one night and runs away, finding himself in the land of the Wild Things. Through an adorable bit of trickery, he is declared their king (read dad) and has to solve all of their problems. The Wild Things themselves are, whether Max realizes it or not, parts of himself, or elements of his life, making it incredibly telling that they frequently seem to be on the brink of war with each other.

The impact of the film is definitely heightened by the score. Karen O of the band the Yeah Yeah Yeahs provides the music. Every track captures the essence of the scene. She performs the sweet and soothing just as well as the melancholy or the dangerous. Of particular note is the song that plays while Max sails off toward the land of the Wild Things. It is, forgive the cliche, a dark and stormy night. The music provides a sufficiently gloomy sense of impending doom. Below it all, barely audible and perhaps scarcely noticed, Karen O is spelling out the word capsize, over and over. Whether you realize it or not, the idea is in your head, increasing the sensation that, just maybe, this little kid isn’t quite qualified to sail a small boat through a storm.

All of this sounds fine and well, but I know that I’m driving you mad. “Why isn’t this a kid’s movie, damn it? Get to the point!” All right, well, the point is, the movie is just scary.

All of those things that I mentioned as to why this is an excellent movie will, probably, escape the average child. The transition from the “real world” Max inhabits to the fantastic world of the Wild Things is, probably deliberately, left unexplained. It seems likely that Max was imagining the entire thing, but there are definite elements of magical realism at play. However, a five year old doesn’t understand the genre of magical realism. If I ask a five year old what magical realism, their parents call me a pervert and the cops get involved! The kids just see a cool kid run away and now he’s with some monsters I guess.

The Wild Things, while you or I understand them to essentially be harmless, are still big scary monsters to a little kid. Hell, I was scared of them, and I knew they were harmless. I sat through the entire sequence in the land of the Wild Things experiencing a prevailing sensation of dread. I knew nothing bad would happen, but I still expected something horrible to occur. 

Excellent acting, a superb score, multiple levels of meaning... I would honestly be hard pressed to find a reason to tell you not to see this movie. I will be shocked if this movie doesn’t earn at least nods from award groups. See it in the theater and you won’t regret it, unless you want to watch it with very small children, and then they’ll probably be okay if you watch it at home and can explain the parts that will blow their tiny minds.

“Where the Wild Things Are” has a runtime of 101 minutes and the MPAA has rated it PG for mild thematic elements, some adventure action and brief language.