Sue me, but even though I work with movies I don’t rush to the theater to see a Spike Jonze movie. It’s a question of taste, and his style is not compatible with what I love, which is a good thing, because I evaluate his films like movies, and not the work of a genius… Like some people.
With that said, “Where the Wild Things Are” is brilliant! Jonze was born to adapt Maurice Sendak’s book and his unique visual style is exactly what the story needed to transport the book’s feel to the audience. Although I liked “Being John Malkovic” and “Adaptation” I don’t like them as much as other people because I do like to have a little color and a little more movement in my movies. “Where the Wild Things Are” uses his washed out colors, patient story and character development as tools for the public to really feel Max’s anger, allowing for everybody to be transported to his world. Karen Orzolek’s score rounds it up with perfection for this feel-good trip, and listening to it even after the movie is over is just delightful.
And while the movie does justice to what I understand the novel to be about, its effect on me as an adult was what made me like it so much. The fact that it was marketed in greater part for adults to take their kids and not the other way around (also because the book was released in a time where most parents of today were children) made all the more sense when I felt transported into those angry moments in my childhood where I though my parents didn’t love me anymore because they had to be adults for a short while. What’s more, the fact that the Wild Things are parallels to Max’s personality or subconscious images of those close to him is astonishingly clear and fun to watch. Carol is really sweet and fun to hang out with, but his lack of responsibility is troublesome for the rest of his family, and in a sense this is what the story is all about… That plus the fact that he is voiced by Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) only helps in achieving a feeling of mischief, charisma and compassion from what is my favorite character in the movie.
But like many movies of its kind, “Where the Wild Things Are” is much more about the feeling rather than the product in itself, and that is a little difficult to put into words. Among other good movies by Spike Jonze, this one stands out because it is so compatible with his vision that it becomes just an awesome joy to watch. It’s not overly long, it doesn’t have that many moments of brilliance, but it becomes one of the few examples of an experience where the whole is much better than its parts.
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