Where The Wild Things Are

Many people would say that their favourite Spike Jones film is 'Being John Malkovich'. But for me it is 'Adaptation'. It is one of my all time favourite films. So you can expect that I was very pleased to see this film.

There have been many rumours going around about this film and the trouble they had with some test screenings and the film's tone. I often wonder why the studio did not know what they were getting. Would they not realise from the script or early footage what sort of film Spike Jones was making? As Spike himself has pointed out in interviews, this is not a children's films but a film about childhood. While there are many child like scenes that the kids would like, I cannot imagine them being interested or understanding of some of the issues and themes the film presents. I tend to think the film was made for people who had read the book as kids when it first came out and are adults now. This would have surprised the studio who no doubt were hoping for something more light-hearted and fun that they could sell to families and make a fortune off selling a whole heap of wild thing plush toys. One amazing thing about the film is how Jones and his co-writer David Eggers have been able to turn the slim picture book into full length feature film. But they have. As mentioned before it may not be the kids oriented story you may expect but is still an excellent story. Max must deal with many things kids go through. I too have felt lonely and created my own fantasy world where I escape to. And what a world that Max escapes to. It is fairly bleak and devoid of colour but is still wonderful to look at. When I heard that the Wild Things were going to be people in suits as opposed to CGI, I was quite pleased. It is far too common these days to rely on CGI to create make believe creatures. Even from the early trailers I saw I knew the concept would work. You don't think of them as people in suits but living, breathing creatures. Jones has been able to make this unusual concept work.

Max Records who plays Max in the film is an excellent child actor. He does a great job at portraying the complexity of Max and how he is a child but being brave in front of the Wild Things especially when they want to eat him. He is able to retain his child-like innocence. Catherine Keener is good as Max's mum in a brief appearance. As is Mark Ruffalo in his literally 10 second appearance. The biggest delight though is the voice cast for the Wild Things. Even though he has a distinctive voice that makes you think of Tony Soprano, James Gandolfini inhabits the character of Carol. He has some wonderful moments with Max that despite they are not technically together when the film was made you really feel they are in the room together. Also excellent are: Catherine O'Hara, Lauren Ambrose and Chris Cooper. They help bring great depth to their characters so you really come to care for them.

I'd love to hear from parents who have taken their kids to see this movie and how they reacted. Did they howl at the end?