Where the Wild Things Are

Review by Jason Donner

 

Oh, who among us who is not a communist or a sinner didn't grow up with Where the Wild Things Are?  That short little book is a staple of a time when I was just a little film critic growing up in a Texas trailer house.  When I heard there was a movie coming out, I had to wonder how in the world you turn a light 18 page children's book into a feature length movie.

The answer is, sadly, you don't... at least not very well.  I will applaud this movie for being an ambitious failure.  It was a gamble, but unfortunately, this odd movie never seemed to find an audience.  Too boring for adults, too confusing for kids.  Whom was is made for?  That's the real question.

The movie centers around a little brat named Max who feels neglected at home.  His sister ignores him, his mom is busy with work and a new boyfriend and Max, angry at not being the center of the universe, apparently, throws a hissy fit, bites his mom, and runs away.

I would like to jump in and say that if I ever tried that crap with my mom, I would be picking up my own teeth off the floor.

Max runs away, finds a boat, and sails away (this is his imagination, I'm assuming) to an island populated by large monsters who, by astonishing coincidence, are looking for a king which they find in Max.

Of course, Max learns soon that being in charge is a lot tougher than he bargained for.

All right, let's talk the good stuff.  Little Paul Dano, who plays Max, is an amazing child actor who was never less than believable in this role.  This is another movie where it all rested on a child's shoulders and, if that kid didn't cut it, the movie would collapse.  The movie collapses, but it isn't young Mr. Dano's fault at all.

Nor is it the fault of the monsters, voiced by the likes of Forest Whitaker, Mark Ruffalo, Catherine O'Hara, and James Gandolfini.  They are all great in assigning the monsters their own personalities so you're never spending that much time trying to remember who is who.  The Wild Things in this movie are about the most adorable monsters since Mike and Sully.

When you get right down to it, Where the Wild Things Are is a failure because of the lack of connection the feature has with the audience.  As I said, it's too dark for kids and too boring for adults.  I'm not sure who this movie was made for, but it wasn't for anyone in my party, that's for sure.

Hey, when a six year old asks, "When will this be over?" in a movie about walking stuffed animals, something has gone wrong.  Something more has gone wrong when me, the adult, wonders the same thing.

Where the Wild Things Are seems to suffer a catastrophic collapse of everything except for the principle actors and monsters.  Even Spike Jonez' direction, though imaginative at times, seems to be dull and lifeless hanging in a world of frustrating monochrome. 

It just doesn't work out and that makes me sad.