The 1963 children’s classic book by Maurice Sendak finally comes to the big screen this weekend. There have been numerous attempts to bring this beloved tale to film, but Spike Jonze [SJONZ] was the one who ended up being in the director’s chair. Jonze has injected a little bit of his own vision along with Sendak’s award winning work. Sure, a lot of children are going to show up for this film, but it’s really the parents who have a special place for this story in their hearts. Will Where the Wild Things Are [WILD] capture its prey?
Jonze and his screenwriter Dave Eggers have made quite an elaborate tale out of the nine or so sentences Sendak originally wrote. Max Records plays the lead character of Max and Catherine Keener [CKEEN], plays his mother. One night, Max lashes out after feeling frustrated and lonely. He is sent to his room for being disobedient. Once there, Max’s adventures begin.
In his room, little Max is swept into his own imaginary land where a band of monsters live. The wildly lush forest with the scary beasts is where he goes to escape his life. But these monsters aren’t as scary as they look and soon they open up to Max about their own feelings. All this happens after everyone declares ‘let the wild rumpus begin.’
The ‘wild rumpus’ features many rowdy behaviors like running around, throwing rocks and even exploding things. Max makes such a wonderful impression on the monsters, that they declare him their king. The child and monsters bond on similar feelings of inadequacy and loneliness. Max learns that even scary monsters need love.
The cast of humans and monsters include Mark Ruffalo [MRUFF], James Gandolfini [JGAND], Paul Dano [PDANO], Forest Whitaker [FWHIT] and Chris Cooper [CCOOP]. Sendak served as producer on this film.
While kids are sure to be drawn to the visual spectacle, it’s the parents who will be the ones to please. The three decade old story has lodged itself into a collective consciousness and Jonze makes the attempt to speak for the adoring fans. Whether it hits or misses, Where the Wild Things Are is a visual extravaganza to be experienced on the big screen.
Tag(s): SJONZ, WILD, CKEEN, MRUFF, JGAND, PDANO, FWHIT, CCOOP