Carol: We were gonna make a whole world like this. Now, everyone used to come here, but you know... you know what it feels like when all your teeth are falling out really slowly and you don't realize and then you notice that, well, they're really far apart.
And then one day... you don't have any teeth anymore.
Max: Yeah.
Carol: Well it was like that.
Childhood can be a fatal condition. It's amazing that anyone ever grows up. Like many others I anticipated this film, dreaming of the magical kingdom that would emerge from Spike Jonze fertile imagination. Unlike many others, I was disappointed in the result. The story is an adaptation of the children's book by Maurice Sendak where a naughty boy gets sent to bed without his supper (by his mother Catherine Keener) and creates a magical world where he can be "wild".
The start of the film was able to cast the shadow of loneliness for Max (Max Records- what a cool name) who has no friends and family too busy to bother. He's sad and confused and angry with no where to go. Thing is, by the time Max acts out and is sent to his room, I don't like him very much. I feel sorry for him, but not to the point where his behavior is okay. So, without giving too much away, he discovers a world of monsters, well enough behaved but also wild enough to have a jolly rumpus with. The voices are supplied by some of Hollywood's finest (James Gandolfini, Forrest Whitaker, Catherine O'Hara, Lauren Ambrose, Paul Dano, and Chris Cooper) but I was too distracted in wondering who was who and lost the story altogether. The scenery is beautiful and the landscape makes for a lovely mat for the actors to work off. Max was able to hold his own amidst the puppets. In the end, I will admit to feeling a pang as Max and Carol come to an understanding. I just wished that sentiment had been able to echo through the rest of the film. This movie is about the child in all of us who just craves love and attention. Is that too much to ask? I don't think this was a bad film by any means. Perhaps it just further reminded me that I am now an adult and the wild rumpus is coming to an end. ONLY for the "inner" children, not actual tots.
Bite: Definitely worth the peep, just not as awesome as I thought it would be.
The start of the film was able to cast the shadow of loneliness for Max (Max Records- what a cool name) who has no friends and family too busy to bother. He's sad and confused and angry with no where to go. Thing is, by the time Max acts out and is sent to his room, I don't like him very much. I feel sorry for him, but not to the point where his behavior is okay. So, without giving too much away, he discovers a world of monsters, well enough behaved but also wild enough to have a jolly rumpus with. The voices are supplied by some of Hollywood's finest (James Gandolfini, Forrest Whitaker, Catherine O'Hara, Lauren Ambrose, Paul Dano, and Chris Cooper) but I was too distracted in wondering who was who and lost the story altogether. The scenery is beautiful and the landscape makes for a lovely mat for the actors to work off. Max was able to hold his own amidst the puppets. In the end, I will admit to feeling a pang as Max and Carol come to an understanding. I just wished that sentiment had been able to echo through the rest of the film. This movie is about the child in all of us who just craves love and attention. Is that too much to ask? I don't think this was a bad film by any means. Perhaps it just further reminded me that I am now an adult and the wild rumpus is coming to an end. ONLY for the "inner" children, not actual tots.
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