49/50: Where the Wild Things Are

Wow, I am so torn on this one.

I am a huge fan of the source material - which isn't much - and the film itself looked amazing, but there was just something missing.

When I was younger Where the Wild Things Are was one of my, if not my, favorite book. And now that I have my own child, I was so excited to start reading it to him as well.

So, when the movie was announced I was so excited. But, how would they turn a 10-sentence book, beloved by children into a full-length feature film?

Well, again I am torn.

I sort of liked it, but then again I didn't. I felt bored throughout most of the film, which to me is a huge negative. I am pretty lenient on many films because there is usually something that can hold my attention - but I just didn't have that here.

First, the positives. The 'Wild Things' looked amazing. And they didn't look fake at all - I was so pleasantly surprised. (Its great to see how far we have come, just finished TMNT the movie and the lips were so off when talking, but not in this film).

The second was the voice talent - most notably James Gandolfini as Carol (his voice to me was almost sounding like Bruce Willis, I kept thinking it was him).

Finally, the expanded story needed names, voices, backgrounds, personalities and even genders for the 'Wild Things' something that the filmmakers and writers did somewhat well. And you know what? The actual story/meaning of the film was great - but getting there was just so boring to me.

The bad was the story line on the actual island. A lot supposed to be going on, but just didn't work for me.

Two decent actors were way underused - Catherine Keener, who played the mother, and Mark Ruffalo, as her boyfriend. Ruffalo had like half a line the entire film, way underused. Why even get him?

And to me, as a fan of the book, Max (Max Records) seemed a bit too old for me. As those who have read the book know, the story goes that Max is a bit too rambunctious one night and is sent to bed without dinner. His imagination brings him to this island and he becomes the king of the 'Wild Things'. It's here that he starts to realize just how difficult it is to put up with characters that are well - just like him. And he returns home to his bedroom - his food was on his table, still hot.

Here, Max actually leaves the house - and goes missing. So, I am sort of lost on where exactly he was the entire time.

I give this a little higher grade than I probably should because the movie itself looked amazing - and the overall meaning of the film was great. Getting there was just way too yawnish.

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