Spring 2009 - Issue 5

The Silversword: Home > Arts and Entertainment > A Wild Review

A Wild Review

Christian Vetter, Photography Editor

Where the Wild Things Are opened this past weekend across the country, and I was among the first to see the movie Friday night.

First, a brief recap of the Maurice Sendak children’s classic: A small boy named Max is sent to his room for misbehaving and making mischief. Max is soon transported by sailboat to a mystical island populated by monsters. (Can’t give away the ending — sorry).

Before seeing the film, however, I decided not to read too many of the reviews because I knew the negative critics would only upset me. (Of the ones I did read, I can only say this: They completely missed the point.)

Although Where the Wild Things Are led the box office with over $32.5 million, rottentomatoes.com — a website that compiles film reviews and determines, on a percentage scale, a “fresh” or “rotten” score — gave the film only 68%, hardly a ringing endorsement.

I don’t mean to sound like a pretentious movie snob (although I am one) when I completely discredit all negative reviews for Wild Things, but there are so many messages in this beautiful film that are spoken through body language and nonverbal communication that they become easy to miss for those not on the same wavelength as the filmmakers.

Spike Jonze, the acclaimed director of the fantastic films Adaptation  and Being John Malkavich, understands what it means to look at the world through a lens of a little boy. With co-writer Dave Eggers, author of the wonderful novel A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, the duo manages to create a heartbreaking, gorgeous, dreamlike world that, despite its irregularities, is relatable to many of our childhoods.

I was shocked to see how few people showed up to the film on its opening night. The book, with its 48 pages and 10 sentences, is really the Bible upon which I base my lifestyle. Bold statement, right? Yet, I believe it was that not-so-well-known dude William Shakespeare that once wrote, “Brevity is the soul of wit.”

Sendak’s 1963 book, upon which I live, captured so much subtlety, beauty and wit in those 10 sentences, and Jonze translated that sentiment perfectly when he brought the book to the silver screen.

This film is touching. That’s all there is to say about it. For those that haven’t read the book and have no interest in the film, I urge you to reconsider your stance. Open your eyes to the subtle beauty of Maurice Sendak, Spike Jonze and the child that lives within us all.