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Dir. Spike Jonze
Rating: 6.8 | 0 User Reviews | Send to Friend
By Lance Duroni
Maurice Sendak’s beloved 1964 children’s book provided all the requisite visual source material for a film adaptation, which Spike Jonze masterfully brings to life in his first feature in seven years. Old-school puppetry and animatronics are highlighted with precision CGI touches to create the amazingly lifelike Wild Things, avoiding the unreal glossy perfection of the aliens in the second, miserable series of Star Wars films. Unfortunately for Jonze and co-writer David Eggers, Sendak left only a skeletal story to expand upon. Their screenplay captures the awkward growing pains of a lonely, creative child with insight and searing honesty, but it is somewhat subdued compared to the boisterous original. Their hero, Max (Max Records), is elaborated upon to create a poster child for the ADD generation. Max is an imaginative but troubled recluse whose problems might seem trivial out of context, but Jonze manages to transport you into the Velcro shoes of youth so effortlessly that Max’s worries become your own: Is the Sun really going to die someday like we learned in science class? Why do all my friends live in my head? These troubles converge upon Max when his normally sympathetic mother ignores his cries for attention while canoodling on the couch with a new boyfriend. Max flies into a frustrated rage and ends up biting his mother as she tries to restrain him (a perfectly updated spin on Max’s misdeed from the book, telling his mother “I’ll eat you up”). This outburst sends Max crying into a nearby woods, which soon transforms into a world unto itself. Here Max happens upon the Wild Things, giant Muppets that just might have escaped from John Malkovich’s twisted subconscious. Jonze then slowly reveals a land of earthy beauty and bizarre genius, where Max’s worries intrude in subtle ways and simple childhood ideas explode across the screen in majestic flourishes. Max spins off-the-cuff tales that convince the credulous Wild Things he is worthy to be their king, so they all set about merrymaking in earnest: They build the Epcot Center of stick forts, fight a dirt clod war for the ages, and pile upon each other like hyperactive kids at recess. The wild rumpus soon devolves into a bit of a pity party, as the Wild Things (voiced by such luminaries as James Gandolfini and Forrest Whitaker) begin to exhibit too many of their king’s frailties. They bicker, become jealous, and begin to doubt Max’s kingly credentials. This melancholy dreamscape is a bit too wispy at times, lacking the continuity and meaningful plot points that make for a truly great story. But it is a figment of a child’s imagination, after all, and the nostalgia trip hits home with such heartwarming authenticity that it is well worth the somber tones and unconnected dots.
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