Where the Wild Things Are (2009)

I didn’t know about Maurice Sendak’s famous children’s book, Where the Wild Things Are, until I was in high school. It had not achieved popularity until some years after my childhood, and, after hearing about it, I wandered over to the local library and read it. It didn’t take long, as there’s not much text in it. I thought the drawings were amusing, and it addressed a common emotional situation in childhood (being punished for disobedience). As an adolescent, it didn’t bowl me over; it would take another 30 years or so for me to really connect with the work, thanks to a brilliant film adaptation by director and co-writer Spike Jonze.

The lead character, Max, is played by a young boy named Max Records, and while normally I am loath to overly praise the performances of children — often they seem to be just precocious rather than truly skilled actors — Records is quite remarkable, displaying honesty in his emotions throughout, while still being a relatable, fun-loving kid. Max shows us where the wild things really are from the very first frames of the movie, as he runs around inside his house, playing with his cat and growling like a ferocious beast. Soon after, he nimbly demonstrates how a child’s emotional state can turn around quickly at a seemingly insignificant provocation. We learn a few basic things about his home life — a loving but distracted mother (Catherine Keener), an uncaring sister, an absent father. These details are generalized for a kind of universal relatability, but fortunately Jonze and his co-writer, best-selling author Dave Eggers, don’t get bogged down with such real-world background issues.

Instead, they efficiently deliver the exposition to move the audience forward to Max’s journey in a land where he meets the Wild Things, and where this film’s peculiar magic truly shines. Jonze was smart to film this fantasy as live action rather than fully animated; the forest, desert, and seaside landscapes feel real and barren of humankind, and they add to the palpable sense of danger infusing the story. These are “wild things” Max finds, after all, even though they’re giant Muppet creatures that capture Max’s affections and ours from the moment they’re seen

Expanding from the book, the Wild Things are given individual names and personalities, and their relationships and conflicts with each other and with their new “king” Max are surprisingly rich. The actors providing their voices — and the models for their seamlessly CGI-rendered facial expressions — are an impressive array of talent, including Oscar winners Forest Whitaker and Chris Cooper (who won for Jonze’s previous film, Adaptation), Catherine O’Hara, Lauren Ambrose, and Paul Dano (from Little Miss Sunshine and There Will Be Blood). The best of the bunch is James Gandolfini as “Carol,” de facto leader of the Wild Things until Max shows up. I originally feared it would be jarring to hear this creature speaking with Tony Soprano’s voice, but Gandolfini proves a terrific choice, as he brings the right amount of anger and emotional range to the character. All the voice actors sound like they’re fully invested in these characters, rather than just phoning it in for a credit and a paycheck.

There are many things in this movie I could gush over. The cinematography by Jonze regular Lance Acord is exquisite throughout, with beautiful golden tones of the Wild Things world contrasting with the more realistic lighting of the real world, and handheld camera work to put the viewer right there with Max during his adventures. Catherine Keener is wonderful to watch, as always, and she hits all the right notes as Max’s mom. The musical score, by Karen O (from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and Carter Burwell (composer for all the Coen Brothers’ films), is different yet interesting. And I won’t spoil it for you, but the last two shots of the film, and the precise moment the movie ends, are absolute perfection. One of the best endings I’ve seen in a long time.

Spike Jonze has built a charmed directorial career from his flair for the unusual, from Christopher Walken dancing and Happy Days revived in his music videos, to the bizarre flights of fancy which fueled his two previous film successes, Adaptation and Being John Malkovich. With Where the Wild Things Are, he’s now 3-for-3 in the feature film department. Even if you don’t have children, see this simple little masterpiece of a film, and laugh and cry and howl like a kid again.