Where the Wild Things Are

Completing my Spike Jonze marathon. I was always unimpressed by the book that this film is "adapted" from. I put "adapted" in quotes because it has so much more going on than the book... yet so much less. Like the book the visuals are striking, perhaps even haunting. But... like the book... the story is simplistic and well... trite. The boy who plays Max did a really strong job and the "Wild Thing" suits are excellent. The color palate is a bit one note throughout, but it is always beautiful. But the film is dull... 94 minutes seemed to drag... and the plot seems pretentiously heavy-handed. I think this probably could have worked as a short film. There's a lot here that's interesting, but being in this fantasy world for so long wore me out.