10th Anniversaries Cont.

Where the Wild Things Are

2009

D: Spike Jonze

**********

Pros: Characterization, Humor, Effects, Visual Style

Cons: Limited Kid Appeal

       Spike Jonze is known for making remarkably creative, off-beat movies, but my favorite from his filmography is his adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s classic children’s book.  The work was such an improvement over the source material that Sendak himself considers the story property of Jonze now.  It’s my favorite movie from a year that presented unusually stiff animated competition.  It was also released a mere day apart from another movie with similar hipster appeal.

       This film improves upon the source material by adding characterization and story to its minimalist narrative.  It establishes the boy Max (Max Records) as a lonely, imaginative child, but not one who is idealized.  In a particularly amusing scene, he defies his long-suffering single mother (Catherine Keener) while she prepares for a date (Mark Ruffalo) in a way that would have surely provoked insurance against repeat offenses from my own mother.  He also shows aggression and ultimately a justified sense of victimhood during a snowball fight.  He’s a refreshingly accurate depiction of a child: selfish, but for somewhat understandable reasons.  These traits would manifest externally in the eponymous creatures.

       When his behavior angers his mother, he flees to a body of water, where he finds a boat that takes him to the island of the Wild Things.  He befriends the friendly but unstable Karol (James Gandolfini), who seems to be the most apparent reflection of himself.  Other wild things include the caring KW (Lauren Ambrose), the mature Douglas (Chris Cooper), the gentle Ira (Forest Whitaker), the aggressive Judith (Catherine O’Hara), and the heavily bullied Alexander (Paul Dano).  Also there is The Bull, a silent loner who has minimal contact with Max.  This last character has a nice, heartfelt silence-breaking line at the end.  I'm always a sucker for that.  The suit performers for these roles are Vincent Crowley, Alice Parkinson, John Leary, Sam Longley, Nick Farnell, Sonny Gerasimowicz, and Angus Sampson.  All these people are very well cast in their roles.  Other cast members include Pepita Emmerichs, Steve Mouzakis, and Spike Jonze as two owls. 

       The Wild Things crown him as their king, and he inspires them to start building a complex that was planned by Carol.  Eventually, Carol’s self-centeredness and instability begin to wear on the team, and they drift apart.  Because of his ability to empathize with these beings, Max can see the flaws in himself because now he’s on the receiving end.  His Wild Rumpus is particularly hard on Alexander, and a conversation with him helps the young protagonist mature as well.  Eventually Carol’s instability comes to a head, and KW has to momentarily protect Max by soft-voring him.  Odd as it sounds, it actually works as a quirky, creative moment that works with the movie’s cartoon logic, though the knowledge that this is a kink for some people makes it kinda weird.  Eventually Max leaves the island, but not before The Bull (Michael Berry, Jr.) says his single line to him.  All the characters on the island learn a valuable lesson with the possible exception of Carol.

        The movie is excellent, combining dry humor and poignant character study.  A lot of the quirkier moments are based on children’s logic and play, as well. It also uses a seamless mix of CG-modified suits and K.K. Barrett’s distinctive production design.  The film uses a quirky logic on which its reality works upon.  Still, it feels visceral and serious, and even has a gritty, sometimes minimalist, look to it.  The occasional darkness is illustrated in one of the more shocking scenes in which Carol furiously rips the arm off of Douglas, who’s barely annoyed by it.  The film is a rare success of combining a flight of fancy with cerebral depth.  It’s a daring, unique movie about facing one’s flaws through similar people who are half animal, a subject I’m actually kinda familiar with.   My one major complaint is that it arguably lacks appeal to children despite supposedly being family fare.  It’s a movie about childhood, but not necessarily for children.