Where the Wild Things Are

Many of us remember the book “Where The Wild Things Are”, it was a testament to that feces throwing monkey in every boy.

This movie had a great story, some good performances, fantastic characters and the potential to be this year number one movie. People wanted to love it, and that gave it the ability to reach an audience open to it.

So what went wrong; why did I walk away feeling like the film had broken off a peace of my mind and tried to duct tape it back on? Like many, I didn’t understand why, or at least I failed to have the words. But if I had to break it down, I think it failed with the relationship between the director and character of Max, or at least his ability to share that character with us. Don’t get me wrong, I believe Spike Jonz and Max Records bonded during this film. The behind the scenes footage shows the two of them as very close friends. But what might have been good for their personal relationship, was disastrous for the movie.

I’ll give Spike Jonz credit for climbing into the mind of child, but once in there, he become too comfortable. He failed to understand that the inside dialogue that often goes on in a child’s head, is not something that translates into film. It’s like opening a book, and instead of seeing a refined dialogue, you find your self reading the very fascinating, but still unfinished author’s notes. He failed to guide the actor to separate who he was with who Max was. He was a sketch of Max, when what we needed was a final drawing. And though he could have left in a bit of the raw and real childish mannerisms, he needed to do a better job of choosing the type of inner dialogue that we could all understand. I think it might of helped stay more synchronized with the book.

Despite all of this, I recommend seeing this in theaters; the world Spike Jonze created is awe inspiring. And if you can get past this dialogue issues, what you get to see is a fantastic break down a child’s fears and frustrations. Neither the director or the actors failed to step up, but rather, they needed to step BACK, and try to take a third party perspective to the final product.