Where The Wild Things Are

Unlike a lot of people I didn't go into this film full of lovely memories of the childrens book it's based on. In fact the only memory I have is that the titular Wild Things had some owl like features (come to think of it I don't have vivid memories of any of the kid's books my parents read me. They could have saved a lot of money and just used the Sunday comic pages, I obviously wouldn't have know the difference). As a result my interest was generated solely by the presence of director Spike Jonze (Adaptation, Being John Malckovich) and writer Dave Eggers (A heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Away We Go), both of whose work I've enjoyed in the past. I say this just to make clear that I didn't go into this expecting some amber-tinted walk down memory lane that would make tear up with feelings of nostalgia.

Anyway, before I get into what didn't work for me (and you know that's what I'm going to focus on) lets get the positive out of the way. The film is beautifully shot, has some moments of real energy, and nicely captures the look of the book (at least the little bit I remember). The film also achieves its biggest goal (and which has been stated in many reviews of being its most significant accomplishment) of accurately portraying a child's view of the world. Unfortunately (and I fully realize this next section is going to say more about me than any shortcoming of the film) this was my biggest problem with it, and the aspect that kept me from being fully engaged. As I watched the protagonist Max fight with his sister, become frustrated with (and eventually bite) his mom, and escape to a fantasy land where the various wild things acted as doppelgangers for his different character traits, I realized that I really don't care about a child's worldview. Its unfocused, petulant, illogical, and in most ways not that interesting. I mean there's a reason that we (and by we I mean me) don't usually like to spend two hours talking to nine year olds about their feelings on how things are going. They're kids, and by definition stupid (at least I was, I'm sure all of you were incredibly engaging youngsters) - we tell them what to do. I know they don't understand the big picture and are easily frustrated - I'm not sure I want to see a whole film documenting that.

As usual I end up sounding much more negative than I actually feel. Most of you are empathetic human beings, who will invariably find something touching in this realistic portrayal of childhood (and even if you're not the film has a lot of elements worth recommending). I'm just a cold and hearltess individual who should never be allowed direct influence over small children (of course after my slobbering review of Bad Lieutenant you already knew that).