Review - Where The Wild Things Are

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Cinema Voyage - November 2009

Review - Where The Wild Things Are

November 4th 2009 15:31

I recall vividly the book written by Maurice Sendak from my childhood and therefore was very keen to see how the movie played out. I actually attended this movie as part of a school excursion in order to supervise my kindergarten aged daughter and I feel that overall I was more impressed than she was.

Max (Max Records), as in the book version, likes to play out his fantasies and dress up as a monster. He is particularly frustrated at home and requires an outlet to let his imagination fly. His mother, a single mum (Catherine Keener), is unable to shower as much attention as she would like due to her job. And when she is taking time off work, she is trying to balance her family and work life in order to spend time with her boyfriend (Mark Ruffalo).

His older sister Claire (newcomer Pepita Emmerichs) is too busy with her friends to pay him the mildest bit of attention even when he is upset. After an especially traumatic day whereupon the frustration builds into extreme rage, he disobeys his mother and attempts to bite her. Embarrassed, confused and angry, Max runs off into the night with his mother chasing after him.

Once he stops running, he finds himself cold and alone and enters an imaginary world in which he can set sail to an island in order to find peace and happiness. Once he arrives he realises he is not alone. The island is inhabited by monsters and as is possible in a childhood dream, he convinces them that he is a viking king and sets out to rule them promising to keep unhappiness and disappointment at bay.

But even in the dreamlike world, he realises that making unrealistic promises can be difficult to keep and after much disappointment once again, he sets home to be comforted by his mum who is ready to offer her arms in a tight hug and a warm smile.

The monsters from the story transform well to the big screen and much of the cinematography is a joy to behold. The movie lapses slightly on the island in terms of the energy we are presented with at the start of the production but overall I found it kept my attention for the most part.

I loved the fact these monsters were provided with human voices in order to make Max feel like these were his surrogate family members while he was on the island. James Gandolfini, Paul Dano, Catherine O'Hara, Forest Whittaker, Lauren Ambrose, Michael Berry Jnr and Chris Cooper were responsible for the voices and provided much of the humour within the story.

I felt Spike Jonze did the book and story justice and I for one was glad to see the story brought to life visually. It didn't sugarcoat the story and there was no particular happy ending, leaving Max and his mother with the realisation that they all must pull together in order to make their family work.

Voyage Review: 3.5/5

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Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: Drama

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4 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by JohnDoe

November 6th 2009 17:39

Film & TV on DVD

Hi Michelle,

I too was hugely effected by the original book as a child and still have the very copy I read as a kid...once the film was put in Spike Jonze's hands I knew we would get something worthwhile.

I still have to see it, but I have little doubt that it will make me smile and weep.

Comment by Michelle Sweeney

November 6th 2009 21:26

Competition Queen
Always Learning
Cinema Voyage

This movie is definitely wasted on the young!

Comment by Matt Shea

November 7th 2009 00:22

20/20 Filmsight

Hi Michelle - great write-up of a book I can only just remember from my childhood. I'm really looking forward to checking this out. On a different note, a guy in the music scene I was interviewing recently had some rather impressive Where the Wild Things Are tattoos on his arms - the book definitely has its fans!

Comment by Michelle Sweeney

November 7th 2009 01:15

Competition Queen
Always Learning
Cinema Voyage

Wow - that's amazing!! I just googled them as a tattoo and it seems that it is quite a popular subject to base a tattoo on. I guess the original book seems to have had an effect on many of us growing up. Testament to a good story I guess.

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