Wild Warning

Jude and I just got home from seeing the new movie "Where the Wild Things Are", and I feel that I should warn all of you who are thinking of taking your children.

First of all, it's a beautiful movie. The direction, cinematography, acting and writing are impeccable. Spike Jonze's adaptation of Maurice Sendak's book is caring and brilliant.

That said...it's NOT FOR YOUNG CHILDREN. I have hearby learned my lesson to read reviews BEFORE taking my son to a movie. Another mom at Jude's soccer game this morning told me she'd heard it was "scary". I'm afraid I dismissed this, because Jude never gets upset by "scary" things. Unfortunately, this movie really was scary, though not in the usual children's movie way. No Transformers shooting each other, no lightsabers cutting someone's head off, no monsters coming after kids. It's the real, harsh scariness of loneliness and loss and fear. It's a sad and intensely emotional movie.

In the book, Max is a naughty boy who makes mischief of "one kind and another" until his mother calls him "Wild thing!" and sends him to bed with out his supper. In the movie, Max's acting out is explained. His parents are divorced. Mom is loving, but missing - worried about her work and money. Max is a painfully lonely latch-key kid who has developed a rich and imaginative fantasy/play life. His older adolescent sister is also loving, but doesn't have time for him, and doesn't protect him. Mom brings her new boyfriend home for dinner and Max dresses in his wolf suit and disrupts the evening, which leads to his running away, and eventually finding his way to the land of the Wild Things.

The Wild Things themselves are true to Sendak's drawings - huge, furry, feathery monsters with kind faces. But interestingly, they are extremely human. Max finds himself the king of a group of wild things who are basically petulant, overgrown children. His best friend in the group, Carol, is voiced by James Gandolfini, a brilliant bit of casting, as Carol has many of the same qualities as Tony Soprano - lovable, cuddly, protective, but also moody and given to fits of tremendous violence. You feel that there really is a chance that Carol may lose control and eat Max up, he loves him so. Carol and another of the Wild Things, K.W., seem to love each other very much, but fight all the time, and are unable to communicate effectively or express their feelings - clearly representing the divorced parents. None of them treat each other kindly.

Jude sat on my lap the entire movie, which he often does. But it was the first time that I was glad that he did. We snuggled and comforted each other through the entire film - both of us started to cry. At one point, I told him I thought maybe we should leave, but he didn't want to. I think he actually recognized the quality of the filmmaking, which, since I've been in "the business" all my life I was sort of proud of. I really, really hope that this wasn't a terrible mistake, and that he doesn't have nightmares. I hope that the fact that Jude's life is NOT like Max's will comfort him, and keep him from personalizing the fears.

So I DON'T recommend taking your young child to "Where the Wild Things Are", but I do recommend it to adults. And I HIGHLY recommend it as a cautionary tale for parents who are divorced, or are thinking of divorcing. The portrayal of the effect of the human condition on a child is powerful.

Comments

[becky]

Wow, thanks for the heads up. It makes me want to see it more, but I guess I won't be taking my three year-old!

[kate]

oh thank you because I was about 5 minutes away from taking my children to see it last weekend. My son doesn't get scared either, but sad, yes. We took them to Marley and Me and I about killed my parents for forcing the "family outing".

[The Lawyer Mom]

Wow, Gretchen. Thanks a whole lot for the heads' up and the warnings. Any idea what age would be okay? I've got an 8-year old boy. Fortunately this movie is flying fairly under his radar screen so I've got some time to mull it over . . .

[Amy]

I had "wow" on my lips too, and will write it despite feeling like a big ole echo. We don't watch many movies, but we do love that book somethin fierce, so appreciate the alert.

I'll put it on the queue to enjoy with the MPM -- Netflix being the only place we ever see movies any more.

Great review, btw. :)