Where The Wild Things Are
Started & Finished: 10/26/09
I have many vivid memories from my childhood where, for one reason or another, I thought or said some variation of “Being a kid is so hard!!!!!!! Adults just don’t get it.” With a handful of years under my belt, I find myself thinking, “Kids don’t know how easy they have it.” With my foot firmly lodged in my mouth, I’m here to announce that kids do indeed have it rough: Where The Wild Things Are reminds us grown-ups that though our childhood angst may seem trivial in retrospect, those emotions are less powerful than the frustrations we experience as adults.
My own feelings about this film have run the gamut from overexcited to utter hopelessness as I followed the production news from breakthrough puppetry technology to studios demanding reshoots to lighten up the film for kids. My expectations rested in a sort of purgatory where I couldn’t be too hurt if it was an awful film. Luckily, my fears of an overly saccharine nostalgia piece were put to rest quickly, and the result is a genuine story with one of the most honest depictions of childhood put to film.
Director Spike Jonze and his co-writer Dave Eggers lured me in with a tale that I thought was about a kid, for kids. But unlike most modern children’s films, Wild Things doesn’t attempt to be one movie for children, and another for adults. Rather, the in-jokes and figurative camera-winks are for the kids, while the movie is really for the grown-ups. Jonze and Eggers do an outstanding job of telling a child’s story for an adult audience while still staying true to Max’s perspective throughout.
My only complaint is the soundtrack— there was just way too much of it. About 70% of the movie had some Karen O song or another in the background, and it felt like she was trying a bit too hard to come off as innocent and child-like. As a result, the narrative tended to drift into music video territory every so often.
I’m not sure why the film has been getting such mixed reviews. Perhaps those reviewers failed to take note of the film’s heart: It’s okay to be angry, lonely, sad, scared or frustrated, and it can be difficult to navigate those emotions. But if you come out of this movie without feeling even slightly warm inside, you may be due for a trip to visit the wild things yourself.
