A Little Too Wild
Spike Jonze’s Wild Things adaptation is a little too faithful
Where the Wild Things Are
directed by: Spike Jonze
starring: Max Records, Catherine Keener
rated: PG for mild thematic elements, some adventure action and brief language.
In the children’s section of my hometown library, there hangs a huge painting from Maurice Sendak’s book Where the Wild Things Are. It captures a mystical forest where a giant, bull-like creature lies fast asleep. I remember being enchanted as a kid, staring at the picture and imagining all sorts of stories and adventures to coincide with the painting. I guess I was much like the book’s protagonist, Max, a child with a vivid imagination and a taste for mischief. Thankfully, Max is a lot more understandable and likable in Spike Jonze’s movie adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are. Like the book, the film follows Max, a child in need of some discipline, who leaves the troubles of the real world to discover a realm of his imagination, inhabited by creatures who behave and react more so in a manner he can understand.
Spike Jonze (Adaptation, Being John Malkovich) remains very faithful to the book, making sure to capture the beauty and subtlety of Sendak’s classic. Because of this, most of the movie will go over kids (and some adults) heads, but I, for one, was fine with that. The cinematography and scope were simply breathtaking, accenting shots with golden lens flares, almost like exclamation points to scenes.
Jonze also fleshed out the character of Max (a terrific performance by Max Records), giving a certain understanding to his sinful behavior. Max acts out of a fear of losing the love of those around him, especially his mother (the terrific Catherine Keener), and the lack of this security drives him to be a disobedient child. We don’t excuse his actions, but he’s certainly a more likable character than his literary counterpart.
Jonze’s faithfulness does have it's drawbacks; like the book, the story has little external plot. While in most movies, the plot forces character flaws to surface, Wild Things makes the character flaws, themselves, the plot of the movie, making it difficult to feel much for Max's imaginary creatures. After all, their actions cause the harm in the story, and not any outside antagonist, leaving the plot to feel prolonged. It’s a series of temper-tantrums instead of a consistently building plot, which becomes very frustrating. Sure, the creatures are images of Max’s own issues and insecurities, but after an hour and a half, even he grows tired of them. It took me half of that time.
Although unfair, I couldn’t help but compare it to the Steve Zaillian film Searching for Bobby Fischer. Both films are children’s movies for adults, are visually stunning (thank you, Conrad Hall), and have themes of the insecurity of losing one’s love. However, Bobby Fischer’s plot gives the characters room to grow, fail, and find redemption. Wild Things forces this growth to become the plot. That concept can work with short films, but becomes tiresome for a feature. Unlike most adapted picture books, Wild Things hits the emotions of the book with plenty of style and beauty. Unfortunately, it also takes an hour or so longer to tell.
Where the Wild Things Are
directed by: Spike Jonze
starring: Max Records, Catherine Keener
rated: PG for mild thematic elements, some adventure action and brief language.
In the children’s section of my hometown library, there hangs a huge painting from Maurice Sendak’s book Where the Wild Things Are. It captures a mystical forest where a giant, bull-like creature lies fast asleep. I remember being enchanted as a kid, staring at the picture and imagining all sorts of stories and adventures to coincide with the painting. I guess I was much like the book’s protagonist, Max, a child with a vivid imagination and a taste for mischief. Thankfully, Max is a lot more understandable and likable in Spike Jonze’s movie adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are. Like the book, the film follows Max, a child in need of some discipline, who leaves the troubles of the real world to discover a realm of his imagination, inhabited by creatures who behave and react more so in a manner he can understand.
Spike Jonze (Adaptation, Being John Malkovich) remains very faithful to the book, making sure to capture the beauty and subtlety of Sendak’s classic. Because of this, most of the movie will go over kids (and some adults) heads, but I, for one, was fine with that. The cinematography and scope were simply breathtaking, accenting shots with golden lens flares, almost like exclamation points to scenes.
Jonze also fleshed out the character of Max (a terrific performance by Max Records), giving a certain understanding to his sinful behavior. Max acts out of a fear of losing the love of those around him, especially his mother (the terrific Catherine Keener), and the lack of this security drives him to be a disobedient child. We don’t excuse his actions, but he’s certainly a more likable character than his literary counterpart.
Jonze’s faithfulness does have it's drawbacks; like the book, the story has little external plot. While in most movies, the plot forces character flaws to surface, Wild Things makes the character flaws, themselves, the plot of the movie, making it difficult to feel much for Max's imaginary creatures. After all, their actions cause the harm in the story, and not any outside antagonist, leaving the plot to feel prolonged. It’s a series of temper-tantrums instead of a consistently building plot, which becomes very frustrating. Sure, the creatures are images of Max’s own issues and insecurities, but after an hour and a half, even he grows tired of them. It took me half of that time.
Although unfair, I couldn’t help but compare it to the Steve Zaillian film Searching for Bobby Fischer. Both films are children’s movies for adults, are visually stunning (thank you, Conrad Hall), and have themes of the insecurity of losing one’s love. However, Bobby Fischer’s plot gives the characters room to grow, fail, and find redemption. Wild Things forces this growth to become the plot. That concept can work with short films, but becomes tiresome for a feature. Unlike most adapted picture books, Wild Things hits the emotions of the book with plenty of style and beauty. Unfortunately, it also takes an hour or so longer to tell.
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