Nov 19 2009
Where The Wild Things Aren’t
Maurice Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are has always been one of my favorite books. In fact, I even find myself watching the children’s TV show “Little Bear” (based on Sendak’s Little Bear) every now and then, even though my daughter grew out of the show years ago.
The playful (and wild) spirit as well as the art and craftiness of Sendak’s works are what attracts me the most, and while the movie did retain some of that look, feel, and craftiness (which was my favorite part of the movie), it did not have any of the playfulness that Sendak’s book had. Rather, the wild things were morose, lackadasical, mumbly, and just plain whiny throughout the entire movie. And that’s where the movie goes very wrong, in the characters’ desperate attempts to shove their sadness and loneliness in your face with every line, they never actual pull you in to their characters, but rather leave you wishing they’d take their overdramatic emotions off of their furry sleeves.
With enough hipster names for ten movies, including Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich and Adaptation), Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius), and actors Forest Whitaker, James Gandolfini, Catherine O’Hara, Max Records (of DCFC video fame), Catherine Keener, and Mark Ruffalo among others, it had the ingredients of a must-see yet doomed to fail movie from the start. Well I had to see it, especially after seeing that amazing trailer with Arcade Fire’s “Wake Up” playing with the wild scenes. (And where is that Arcade Fire tune now that the movie’s out, I ask you??)
For me, it would have been better to almost make the whole movie more of a music video of sorts, since they pretty much had the look and feel, and had some really beautiful scenes like the crafted village scene which was quite magical. But sadly, the characters and dialogue left very much to be desired.