Put Me in a Boat and Sink It

Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
directed by Spike Jonze
rating: 2 out of 5 cravats
seen on the screen at the Manor Theatre

What a disappointment. This really did feel like a project that had been in development for five years, and not at all the oddity I expected from the director of Adaptation. It's obvious Spike Jonze likes Chris Cooper, or he wouldn't have used him in two films. I like Chris Cooper, too, but the only thing any of the funny actors who surround Max in hairy costumes get to do is read back glib platitudes about Dave Eggers' youth ("I'm sad" or "I don't understand") that say nothing - nothing! - about the precarious years that Max is going through. The title screen, knocking a pair of owls from the sky, and the hero hiding in someone's stomach are the only moments that reminded me of Spike of Old, and that's a shame. You can, as always, learn more about "the loneliness of childhood" by actually enjoying yourself at a movie. Scratching Karen O for the Animals' "Wild Thing" might have been a good place to start.