Now you are king, and you will be a truly great king.

Where the Wild Things Are

My greatest fears did not come true. This wasn't a disappointment, far from it. This classic story was given a fair and respectful adaptation and honorable and imaginative expansion. I don't remember the book too vividly but I remember reading it as a kid. It left enough of an impact on me that if the film had been a disappointment, I would have died a little inside. This was no child's tale; it was very dark. There were some disturbing images and some heavy themes that could be difficult for a child to swallow.

Max is a victim of divorce. His mom works long hours and doesn't have as much time for him as he'd like. He has no friends and looks to his older sister for company, but she's busy with her own social life. As well, his mom has started to date, which means she has even less time for Max. Max's loneliness leads to his violent outbursts. He expresses his frustrations by destroying his sister's room when she left him to be with her friends and biting his mom when she has her new boyfriend over. He runs away from his inevitable consequences and finds the Wild Things.

As the film's tag line says, there is a little wild thing is all of us, and Max is no exception. Each of the Wild Things represents a part of Max. KW is all the love Max is capable of having, Judith is Max's bossiness, and Ira is Max's intelligence. Alexander is Max's loneliness, Douglas is Max's potential compassion, and the Bull is Max's inner quiet observer. The Wild Thing most like Max is Carol. Carol is emotional, impulsive, and volatile. He doesn't know how to deal appropriately with sadness and loss, exactly like Max. They choose destruction instead of talking; they do not consider how their actions will affect others.

Max experiences a role reversal when he arrives at the island of the Wild Things. He becomes their king, their patriarch, their parent. This role reversal enforces the film's most prevalent theme, family. Max believes that being the king will be an easy job. He can say and do whatever he wants and his "children" will follow him. But being the head of the family isn't easy. When he can't keep his promises, feelings get hurt. When he spends more time with a Wild Thing, jealousies grow. When he can't keep his family together, his "children" get angry at him and blame him for everything, much like a child could do in a divorce situation. Max has his epiphany after he's hidden with KW from Carol and he sees how messed up everything is. He tells KW he wishes they had a mother. Max realizes being a parent is terribly difficult and family is hard work. He needs to not think so selfishly. His mom sacrifices so much for him, more than he realized up until this moment. Now he knows he is ready to go home.

The film looked exactly the way it needed to look. The combination of puppets, costumes and CGI worked. It looked both realistic and magical. The actors chosen to do the voices of the Wild Things were perfect. Catherine O'Hara brought her slight insanity into Judith while Forest Whitaker's voice was its usual soothing tone as Ira. One could see the actor's smiles through the CGI Wild Things' smiles. Max Records as Max delivered a great performance. He captured Max's ferocity and inner conflict. The role was a complex and could be daunting, but Records successfully portrayed an ultimately wounded little boy.

The film captured the essence of the story and expanded on it beautifully. Spike Jonze took on an astronomical task, with high expectations and lots of pressure. He certainly delivered.

Jeremy Sisto in Waitress

Few things consistently make me squeamish. Watching people with eating disorders, needle use, and Jeremy Sisto in Waitress. He is one of the most unlikeable male characters in a movie I've ever seen, more than some murders or all around bad guys. He is killing his wife, Jenna, slowly inside. He is absolutely odious. Hearing him beg his wife for sex makes me want to vomit and when he tells her she better not love their baby more than him, that he's still her main priority, makes me want to die. On top of all this, he harasses her in public and hits her. He is less than a human being and it takes good acting to make audiences hate a character so much.

Netflix Queue

Gladiator-I saw it once when I was way too young and I had a tummy ache, so I wasn't giving it all my attention.
Whatever Works-I heard mixed things about this Woody Allen film and I despise Evan Rachel Wood but maybe this film might give me the push I need to watch Curb Your Enthusiasm.
The Soloist-I love RDJ