Published: October 29, 2009 12:25 am      

MOVIE REVIEW: Where the Wild Things Are Is Monstrous

PALESTINE — “Where the Wild Things Are” is depressing, dull and dysfunctional. Childhood fans of the book should beware that a few creatively illustrated pages with fewer words than this review simply cannot be the basis of a feature length motion picture. So screenwriters Spike Jonze (“Being John Malkovich”, “Jackass”) and Dave Eggers, apparently with the approval of author Maurice Sendak, who handpicked Jonze to write and direct, have added to Sendak’s vision. The result is a story geared more to help baffled adults remember what it is to see through rebellious children’s eyes than it is to entertain imaginative youngsters.

Max (Max Records) is a disconsolately lonely child. His teenage sister ignores him; his busy divorced mother (Catherin Keener, “Capote” and “Being John Malkovich”) tries distractedly to engage him; and his teachers depress him with tales of the impending doom of Earth. He has no friends that we see, and is an egocentric narcissist, able only to relate from his own narrow perspective for his own immediate desires. We aren’t told how old Max is, but he seems to be physically about eight going on four emotionally. In a desperate attempt to demand attention, he bites his mother and flees into the night, steals a boat, and lands on a mysterious island populated by seven monsters. The monsters reflect portions of Max’s dysfunctional personality: Carol (James Gandolfino TV’s “The Sopranos”), creative but uncontrollably angry, dominates the motley crew; KW (Lauren Ambrose, “A Dog Year”) is striving for independence; Douglas (Chris Cooper, “Seabiscuit”) is observant but passive; Alexander (Paul Dano, “There Will be Blood”) is completely ignored by the others; Judith (Catherine O’Hara, “Penelope”) is an unmitigated pessimist; Ira (Forest Whitaker, “The Last King of Scotland”) robotically drills holes for no purpose other than self-satisfaction; and The Bull (Michael Berry, Jr., “Star Trek”) is the outsider, always looking in.

Being an immature child exhibiting all of the above negative personality traits, Max lies to the monsters so that they’ll make him king and he can then rule his own island kingdom. As would be expected, Max’s fraudulent attempt at a just and equitable government resembles one of Jonze’s “Jackass” scripts. Max finally returns home, but has he learned anything?

As Max, Max Records does a commendable job animating a child no one really wants to get to know, imbuing him with just enough insouciance to hold the audience’s interest. However, parents be advised: Max is never punished for his bad behavior, nor is such behavior ever even discouraged in the movie. Max never appears contrite over the hurt he causes others — he is exclusively self-centered and his self-destructive childhood attitude is treated as normal.

The movie drags inexorably along, its torpid pace enhanced only by dizzying hand-held camera work. The monsters are the star of the show: the Jim Henson Studios costumes are outstanding, the CG facial expressions on the monsters are impressive and the voices are brilliantly evocative. The expansively rugged coastline of the island contrasts exquisitely with the claustrophobic suburban neighborhood from which Max escapes. Visually, “Where the Wild Things Are” is extraordinary. However, the film’s plot is so thin it is anorexic, and the character development is hidden behind childhood flights of fancy and fits of temper.

Historically, children’s movies contain messages, however trite (“Pinocchio” teaches children not to tell lies; “Beauty and the Beast” tells us love conquers all, etc.) but “Where the Wild Things Are” contains no message for children. Instead, the message is for the adults: be there for your child, and make sure kids can emotionally comprehend the information taught in school.

“Where the Wild Things Are” is a singularly original bit of film-making by Spike Jonze, but it is rated PG for a reason. It is dark in outlook. Parents of small children should view this movie alone to determine whether their child is ready for its images of loneliness, temper tantrums and egregious selfishness.