(Rated PG for thematic elements, mild profanity): Maurice Sendak has made a name for himself sketching & writing, especially for children. His "Where the Wild Things Are," a story 10 sentences long tells of a 9-year-old boy, his struggle with controlling emotions & a subsequent leap into a world of fantasy. With Dave Eggers and Spike Jonze that best seller, which had earlier been made into a successful opera, has now become a 95-minute movie. Could that team, under Jonze's direction, stretch the little gem into a bigger gem?
Happily, yes. We have little Max ( Max Record) in real life, erupting into a wide range of childish emotions from angry tantrum to elation to an emotional escape, across the ocean to an island overrun by seven diverse furry creatures, where he proclaims himself king, then romps playfully with them. He has great fun being king until the demands made upon him become overwhelming. H longs for home and his mother (Catherine Keener), sails back in time for a hot meal and - at least for the time being - contentment.
And that's it. Hardly your typical kiddy flick with all sorts of conflicts, near scrapes, flatulence, good conquering evil. The tiniest kids might enjoy watching the hairy monsters do all the things they might want to do themselves, but I doubt if their interest could be sustained for more than a few sporadic moments here & there.
For adults, it's another story - a rosy glance back to childhood. Except for "The Human Comedy," I can't think of another film that gets so close to revealing what children truly think, act & fantasize about. Early on, for example, when Max flies into a rage over something his older sister has done, he zooms furiously into her room, scattering things about, then shattering a memento before remorse sets in. On the island, later, something similar happens when Max is transfixed by a table-top miniature forest complete with flowing stream - a loving creation by his closest creature friend - and then, after friend falls into a tantrum & rips apart his creation, Max's reaction, recalling his earlier experience, is swift & remorseful. It's a beautiful, tender moment.
Jonze has created a perfect fantasy nation (of sandy shores, monstrous cliffs, dells & deep forests, all from parts of Australia); he has established personalities for the hairy creatures even to giving them personal names & characteristic mannerisms, while Jim Hanson's creature shop supplies the perfect external shapes & a digital art company the expressions. With Tom Hanks on the team as one of the producers and Sendak around to set boundaries, the result is a beautiful rendition in which the child in them - and us - is reborn. (Grade: A)
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