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Spike Jonze, Where the Wild Things Are
10/26/2009 Just because a kids movie follows the vivid imagination of a hyperactive child doesn’t mean it’s necessarily targeted at the Spongebob Squarepants crowd. Sure, the previews make this look like a fun escape from reality, particularly those TV spots that include the upbeat song “All is Love.” But audience members may be surprised by how incredibly subdued (and almost depressing) this is. It’s a tricky thing, creating a film that takes place entirely from one character’s subjective point of view. Chances are very high that the sometimes incoherent world will polarize viewers. Just look at Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York. Entering the mindset of a child is no less of a challenge. In fact, it’s probably an even bigger risk. But for the most part, Spike Jonze and the filmmakers do a nice job here. There’s plenty of fort building, some roughhousing, the inevitable friction that arises from playing a little too rough, and the desire to return to a state of normality after the game stops being fun anymore. Max (Max Records) is a typical kid: energetic, inventive, sensitive and complicated. He has an older sibling, but she’s more interested in hanging out with people her own age than building a snow igloo with her little brother. As his sister and her friends make their way to the car, Max decides to ambush them with snowballs, and they, surprisingly, decide to play along. Everything’s fine, until someone decides to take it too far. After that, Max begins to really act out, first by completely trashing his sister’s room, and then by ruining his mother’s date. His mom (Catherine Keener) says he’s out of control, and feeling misunderstood by everyone in his own house, Max runs away. He finds a small sailboat and decides to take it for a ride, ultimately landing in a place inhabited by giant creatures. Kids are probably used to seeing tall walking, talking animals interact with children, like the ones on Sesame Street. But the only way Big Bird would fit in here is if he traded in his good-natured personality for a hefty dose of Prozac. The Things are a mess, psychologically-speaking (because visually, they’re quite impressive). A smorgasbord of talented actors - James Gandolfini, Catherine O’Hara, Forest Whitaker, Chris Cooper, Paul Dano and Lauren Ambrose – lend their voices to the characters, but really, the more they talk, the more dejected they seem to get. You have to wonder what kind of a life a kid leads when his fantasy world is more depressing than his real one. But then again, I suppose one can influence the other. To keep from being eaten, Max pretends to be a being with supernatural powers, and the Things make him their king. His enthusiastic spirit seems likely to completely transform the otherwise despondent creatures into actual happy beasts, but of course, it’s not that simple (even in fantasy). The film, odd and gloomy as it may be, never gets boring, nor does it feel too long. The only time the movie seems to really drag on comes with the inclusion of Bob and Terry, two obviously fake Things that don’t really seem to add much. The production design is pretty incredible, and the cinematography will occasionally whet your optical appetite (particularly in the scene when Max and Carol walk through the forest as leaves trickle down). It’s interesting how at the core of something so seemingly beautiful resides something so undeniably sad. Comments [post a comment]
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Monday, March 15, 2010
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