Warner Bros. Pictures | 2009 | Rated PG | 101 Minutes

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE is an ambitious endeavor that translates Maurice Sendak’s highly revered classic children’s story into a full-length feature film. This is no small feat, considering the source material is a timeless tale, beloved by millions.

The comparisons to the book are to be expected and, yet, how can you compare the two? CNN.com has reported director Spike Jonze (BEING JOHN MALKOVICH) having said, “I didn’t set out to make a children’s movie; I set out to make a movie about childhood.” And that perspective has been fully endorsed by Sendak. This shared viewpoint has set the director and his film at odds with a large portion of the movie-going public that is expecting a kiddie flick, producing an active virtual discussion between creator and consumer through blogs, reviews, and other online venues.

But c’mon, now.

Since when did a really good filmmaker make a movie for the audience that may or may not see it? The undertakings of an impassioned director are often labors of love, years in the making, an extension of themselves as contributors to the artistic landscape. And Jonze—and his wild rumpus of a film—is no different.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE is not a children’s movie; and that’s okay. Really. I can appreciate the desire Jonze and his partner in crime, Dave Eggers, shared in delving a little deeper into the story of a boy sent to his room for acting up and the subsequent journey he imagines into a world of wooly monsters where he can be king. And that’s enough of a foundation for a movie. Yes, really.

Jonze and Eggers do a fairly good job creating a story around Sendak’s slender tome, but their biggest success lies in the casting, special effects and setting. Shot primarily off the southern coast of Australia, the rugged and wooded areas, sandy dunes and oceanfront landscape are breathtaking and wholly realistic as the make-believe land a young, wolf-suited boy would travel to in his wildest imaginings.

The young, wolf-suited boy in question is none other than the perfectly cast newcomer, but sure-to-become-a-household-name (at least in this reviewer’s eyes) Max Records. Making a movie about the varying emotions and experiences that make up childhood required casting a person that could not only display the ranges of feeling but also actually connect with them and translate that to the screen in a meaningful way. Records does a tremendous job portraying a boy who experiences joy, pain, fear, confusion, anger and betrayal as he struggles to come into his own.

Records is not the only fascinating thing to watch in the film. Cavorting through this outdoor playground of surf and turf are larger-than-life versions of Sendak’s motley crew of monsters, the Wild Things. There’s Carol, voiced by James Gandolfini, whose former Soprano’s mob-boss teddy bear quality is the perfect pitch as Max’s alter-ego; Carol’s right hand man, Douglas matter-of-factly played by Chris Cooper; amenable Ira and sardonic Judith, lovers portrayed by Forest Whitaker and Catherine O’Hara; whiny Goat-boy Alexander voiced by Paul Dano and Lauren Ambrose as the independent KW.

Max doesn’t know what to make of the gigantic beings when he first lays eyes on them. In fact, he sits mesmerized for a moment, just taking them in. I too was transfixed. Created by Jim Henson’s Creatures Shop and enhanced further with animatronics and computer-generated imagery (CGI), the wild things are amazing to watch. They are all beast, yet have very humanistic features in their expressions, their gait and their posture. For as unnatural looking as they are, their inclusion in the film is anything but unusual. After a few minutes of open-mouthed gawking, Max can’t resist getting in on the action, and I was totally game for the ride.

The wild things are as different as they look and Max works hard to navigate the personalities and personal politics contained within the untamed environment. At times, the negotiations are overwrought, not just for Max, but the moviegoer as well. Understanding Jonze had no intent of the film being a children’s movie, the social dynamics between Max and the wild things can be overly chatty, full of insecurity, hints of depression, and sparked with blame and victimization. Admittedly, I wanted a little more monster fantasy and less a snapshot of real life masked as a giant puppet creature. This was the weakest part of the plot and my biggest area of complaint.

After a lot of sitting on the fence, I am able to overlook this when I go back to the fact that these illogical creatures are so lifelike and able to capture your imagination. The amount of time and creativity that must have gone into making these wild things so expressive that their thin, wide mouths can steal a smirk, their eyes can swell with pride or well with tears is a tribute to the special affects that abound throughout this movie. These small touches allowed me to connect with them and see parts of myself in them. It’s an achievement really like no other.

Couple that with the resultant lesson of the story: Max’s journey is not only one of escape, but one that serves as his rite of passage, an ending of innocence. He is able to come to this realization only after living with the wild things, which are—in effect—a mirror of himself and his life. Carol is the most like him: unruly and full of heart, quick to react, remorseful and just wanting to be loved. Alexander clamors for attention and acceptance with the group the way Max does. The critical eye of Judith resembles the brief skepticism cast on Max at the film’s onset. Finally, KW emerges at just the right times, with her raspy and familiar voice to comfort and protect Max, just the way his mother does.

And in the end, this is what we know: It’s clear Max loves his family and is struggling to find his place in it and the world. Everywhere Max turns, he’s fighting to be heard, to be acknowledged. For all the young Max’s who are out there, and even the not-so-young ones … perhaps now you will be.

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