“Where the Wild Things Are” lives up to high expectations

“Where the Wild Things Are”

Starring: Max Records, Catherine Keener, James Gandolfini,… “Where the Wild Things Are”

Starring: Max Records, Catherine Keener, James Gandolfini,

Director: Spike Jonze

Studio: Warner Bros.

Grade: B+

Try as we might, it is impossible to make our own perfect kingdom in an imperfect world.

“Where the Wild Things Are,” directed by Spike Jonze, portrays this lesson in 101 minutes — a remarkable feat considering that its source material is a 10-sentence picture book.

Jonze, known for quirky features such as “Being John Malkovich,” employs the same brand of creativity in WTWTA.

Likewise, screenwriter David Eggers brings poignant dialogue to the script as he does in his acclaimed memoir, “A Heartbreaking Work of a Staggering Genius.”

The story is told through the eyes of rambunctious and misunderstood Max (Max Records), who loves his single mom (Catherine Keener) even though she usually neglects him while struggling to balance her work, boyfriend and children.

One night, Max starts acting up while his mom has her boyfriend over, so she sends him to his room. Max bites her and runs away, then stumbles upon a boat in the woods, and using it, he sails off to an island full of imaginary creatures called the wild things.

At first, the world seems exciting. Max makes new friends, including a striped beast named Carol (James Gandolfini) and the friendly, long-haired KW (Lauren Ambrose). Some are not so nice, while several are just plain silly.

Eventually, Max sees how this world is not much different from his own.

Max has an epiphany when KW tells him that even among the wild things, “it’s hard to be a family” .

As expected, the movie heads in the direction of a kid-friendly and message-appropriate ending.

However, the themes in WTWTA are quite dark for a movie marketed toward children. Although playful montages often diffuse the intensely

emotional scenes, sometimes Jonze imbeds even lighthearted scenes with traces of spiteful dialogue.

The wild things try to be caring creatures, but nothing ever feels quite right in their world. And Max begins to miss his home life.

Along with the powerful universal themes, the setting, cinematography and special effects are stunningly organic. Even though Max’s world is make-believe, the scenery looks like it came out of your backyard — just bigger and better.

The camera captures the natural landscapes’ earthy shades of brown, Max’s fortress looks like a giant bird’s nest and the beach feels like a life-sized sandbox.

Created with a mixture of live action, mechanical puppets and CGI technology, the wild things come to life. Although they are about six times Max’s size, the furry and horned creatures come across as something more likely to walk out of the woods than say, a deer or a racoon.

The world of the wild things takes audiences on a whimsical journey through the nostalgic joys and hardships of growing up.

After traveling with Max, it’s only natural to want to spend some time taming our own wild things. Now if only we could get a hold of that boat …