John Allman

If you’ve ever wandered the aisles at the video store or surfed the DVR pay-per-view options and seen a bunch of movies that you’ve never heard of, chances are John has watched them. Why? He loves movies. All kinds of movies. Good, bad, so-bad-they’re good, even the truly unwatchable ones. He mostly loves horror and science-fiction and drive-in exploitation movies that most upstanding model citizens wouldn’t dare watch. Then he writes up his thoughts so you can decide - watch, don’t watch or avoid at all costs. Sometimes he even gets to talk to the cool folks who make some of your favorite films.

 Blood, Violence and Babes
 John Allman

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Where the Wild Things Are

Posted Mar 17, 2010 by John Allman

Updated Mar 17, 2010 at 09:07 PM

Where the Wild Things Are
Genre: Fantasy/Family/Drama
Directed by: Spike Jonze
Run time: 101 minutes
Rating: PG
Format: Blu-Ray

The Lowdown: Dark, disturbing and a little bit dangerous, Spike Jonze’s “Where the Wild Things Are” attempts to capture the angst, the confusion and the rebellion of adolescence and he damn near succeeds.

Jonze’ task is not easy. He is working with a beloved 1963 children’s book by Maurice Sendak that contains very little dialogue to propel the story.

Jonze and his collaborator, co-writer Dave Eggers, create a world that isn’t necessarily kid-friendly, but it also doesn’t have enough exposition to fully register with adults. They patchwork together a string of childhood moments and experiences (divorce, sibling rivalry and the inevitable exasperated single parent) to catapult newcomer Max Records, playing Max, into the fictional world where he encounters the Wild Things – a gaggle of misunderstood, albeit abnormally large, adolescent monsters, whose voices are given life by some exceptional talent, namely James Gandolfini, Catherine O’Hara and Forest Whitaker.

Each of the Wild Things represents a childlike quality of Max that he must reconcile and accept. They are moody, paranoid, obstinate and rash, yet compassionate, all at once.

Since much of the action takes place in the land of the Wild Things, one would think that Jonze – a visionary director with a subversive eye and edgy style – would be a perfect director to fashion a mystical land full of wonder and awe.

And while there are moments of great lyrical beauty, the film drags when it should soar and stutters with repetition when it should be slyly exposing the staggering lurch into awareness that we all encounter when growing up.

Overall, it’s a good film, but not a great one.

That’s not a knock against Jonze. It’s just that Sendak’s wonderful story, which has resonated for so long with so many, might just be perfect the way it was first presented, as a colorful storybook, free from the constraints of live-action metaphors that only serve to dilute its imaginary power.

The Stuff You Care About:
Hot chicks – Catherine Keener, hot or not? Discuss.
Nudity – No.
Gore – No.
Drug use – No.
Bad Guys/Killers – Growing up.
Buy/Rent – Rent it.
Blu-Ray Bonus Features – Exclusive: The short film, “Higglety Pigglety Pop! Or There Must Be More to Life”; HBO First Look: “Where the Wild Things Are” documentary; Short film series by Lance Bangs.
On the Web – http://wherethewildthingsare.warnerbros.com/dvd/
Release Date – March 2, 2010