WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

rated PG

ART--->****

HEART->****

MIND-->****

FUN--->****

Max has no one to play with. His sister doesn't want to be with him. His father left. His mother works long hours and is dating someone new. Wanting attention, Max misbehaves and gets into trouble. Running away, he stumbles upon a wild and natural world of furry monsters. Scary, fuzzy, dysfunctional and familiar, the monsters lack community and need direction. Setting himself up as their king, Max devises a plan to get them working together again.

The classic children's book by Maurice Sendak is itself very brief. It's about a rambunctious little boy who gets sent to his room for misbehaving and escapes into an imaginary world of monsters. Director Spike Jonze extrapolates from that short story a film that explores the sheer essence of reactionary childhood, coupled with the loss of a father. In Max's struggle to rule this world, the conflict of nascent emotions is rendered perfectly.

On the surface, it can seem like this story is lighter than air. But it has a deep undercurrent that keeps it from being another escapist fantasy. The whole film is an emotional journey of getting to a place where you're okay with the fact that everything in your life is not okay. Of cherishing your loved ones despite your needs and their flaws.

Everything in the film is tangible and real. The monsters are complete characters, with authentic feelings and pain. While a bit subdued, each one has a distinct and familiar personality. They are in one sense, splinters of Max's psyche, his working out of frustration; and the personification of his family relationships. They're also really cool-looking monsters.

This is raw childhood captured on film, an experience that cannot be replicated. It is in all honesty a masterpiece of filmmaking, storytelling, creativity, and emotion. I never thought I would ever say this in our modern era, but "Where The Wild Things Are" is a perfect film. It gets my

HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION.