The wizard of id

Spike Jonze’s adaptation of iconic children’s
book Where the Wild Things Are is a
heartbreaking work of staggering genius

BOY WONDER: Where the Wild Things Are

by CHRISTOPHER SYKES

The term “genius” is easily tossed around. But insofar as analysis of child psyche goes, you’re hard pressed to find a better example than Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are. Sendak captures perfectly the inner workings of a young mind, and he does so with brevity—the award-winning story is a mere nine sentences long.

Any skepticism about the film adaptation, directed by Spike Jonze and written by Jonze and Dave Eggers, is dispelled in the opening scene. Max (Max Records) frolics in the snow seeking refuge from his less-than-perfect life. Reminiscent of Bill Watterson’s comic-strip rabble-rouser Calvin, he readies an arsenal of snowballs intended for his older sister and her friends. The snowball fight is gleeful and innocent in its beginning, but ends in tears as the teens flee by automobile.

It’s this notion of escape that’s the central theme of Wild Things. Following a tirade directed at his mother (Catherine Keener), Max is to be punished. As opposed to being sent to his room and conjuring up 10-foot-tall monsters as in the story, Jonze has the boy run away and set sail to an island where the monsters live.

Jonze’s monsters are more complex than Sendak’s. These are intricate beings, creations of Max’s fervent imagination and possessed by his shortcomings. Among them, alpha monster Carol (James Gandolfini) sports a nasty temper, yet is vulnerable due to girlfriend KW’s (Lauren Ambrose) decision to leave (as Max’s biological father has). Goat-horned Alexander (Paul Dano) is the runt of the litter (at a mere seven feet) and feels largely ignored. Each portrays a facet of Max’s ego and id. Conquering his initial fear, Max convinces the group of his superiority and christens himself king. What begins as a revolt from the confines of structure turns serious when Max finds the accompanying responsibility too grand.

Adults will enjoy Jonze and Eggers’ witty banter, and hipsters will thrill to the Karen O soundtrack, but the film’s real strength is the way it gets so successfully inside a kid’s psychology. It’s evident that Jonze nailed this adaptation because he’s tamed his own inner Max. It’s one of the finest children’s stories ever told on film. All hail King Spike.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
OPENS THIS FRIDAY, OCT. 16