2B pulse | www.theshorthorn.com thursday, october 22, 2009

BY ALANNA QUILLENThe Shorthorn senior staff

It’s not easy turning a chil-dren’s book into a movie. Especially when that book

spans 20 pages and involves huge monsters, warped realities and a wild thing named Max.

The blown up version of Maurice Sendak’s 1963 chil-dren’s book, Where the Wild Things Are, takes the es-sence from the pages, and trans-forms it into a deep and inspiring work of art on the big screen.

The movie follows the imagi-nation of a 9-year-old boy, Max (Max Records). Feeling angry and unloved by his older sister and divorced mother (Catherine Keener), he commits mischief like chasing his dog around with a fork. When Max becomes angry at his mother for inviting over her boyfriend (Mark Ruffalo), he ends up biting her and running away in a fitful rage. Dressed in his play wolf costume, he stum-bles upon a boat and sails away to the imaginary island of creatures called Wild Things.

Director Spike Jonze has

worked on developing this movie for years and gets kudos for turn-ing a 10-sentence book into a full-length film. It’s refreshing to see such an authentic, real-world take on a children’s book. With minimal acting experience, the 12-year-old Records makes it big

time after being dis-covered in Por t land, Ore.

U n l i k e failures of book adap-tations like Cat in the Hat, the film doesn’t boast over-whelming

color and characters bursting into song. Instead, the colors are natural, the emotions are real and the characters burst into howls at the morning sun’s beauty.

The film has a different take on Max. Not only is he portrayed as the mischievous little boy in the book, but in the movie he is also a troubled, lonesome child who yearns for attention and love. In search of adventure and acceptance, he seems to find him-self when he escapes to the land of Wild Things.

While on the island, Max en-counters monsters that crown him as their king. Each creature represents a side of the boy and his thoughts toward the world. Carol (voiced by James Gandol-fini) symbolizes Max’s childlike tempers while Alex (voiced by Paul Dano) portrays his feelings of neglect and loneliness. Max eventually loses his ability to con-trol the imaginary kingdom, just as he slips back into reality.

Backed by a sweet soundtrack by Karen O from The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and a chorus of children, the film has a sentimental indie rock sound.

The movie does justice to the book by capturing and keeping Max’s innocence, while delving deeper into his story and emo-tions. Audiences should try read-ing the book before seeing the movie in theaters. In this film, a 20-page book turns into a deep, heartwarming story of love and adventure.

ALANNA QUILLENfeatures-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu

Beauty in the BeastsWhere the Wild Things Are beautifully portrays

childhood innocence and emotions

MOVIE REVIEW

WHERE THE WILD THINGS AREStarring: Max Records, Catherine KeenerDirector: Spike JonzeRating: Rated PG for mild thematic elements, some adventure action and brief language.

★★★

Courtesy: Warner Bros. Pictures

Where the Wild Things Are follows the childhood tale of Max, who travels to an imaginary land to learn more about himself.