Let the Wild Rumpus…Confuse You
Issue date: 10/28/09 Section: Entertainment
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Rotunda Reporter
Adaptation is a science that more often than not provokes that classic paradigm, "The book was better." Sometimes, however, if done correctly, there's the elusive "The movie was great, but the book was still better." Hardly ever will you hear, "The book sucked, but the movie was great!" Before I begin this review, I must make it clear: the book is always better.
And it goes without saying that adaptation is not the easiest of tasks. For one thing, there is always a sense of expectation that the paying customer who read the book simply will not let go of. I mean, seriously, who didn't read 'Where the Wild Things Are' and absolutely love it? And since we're getting specific, the fact that the original book is nine sentences long does not make adaptation any easier.
To be honest, when I heard that they were making a movie out of the book, and that Spike Jonze (the Jackass series) was hired to direct it, I did get excited. Then I remembered the book, and the excitement turned to confusion. Then I remembered how bad adaptations can ruin the reputation of a really good book, and I got nervous.
Lucky for me, 'Where the Wild Things Are' had it all. You want a dysfunctional relationship between a boy and his mother? Got it. How about near suffocation from a collapsing igloo while an apathetic older sister looks on? No problem. And no movie would possibly be complete without the dismemberment of an oversized stuffed animal (I think that's what they are, but I'm not quite sure…it looked like Styrofoam beads fell out of his chest cavity).
What this movie lacked, however, was a coherent storyline and a plot that mildly made sense. Not even small children could see past the confusion, in fact, the kid sitting in front of me would not stop complaining to his mother that he just didn't "get it" and that the movie was "nothing like the book."
I did hear a collective "hell yeah" from the other men in the audience (maybe three or so) when the voice of Carol, the main "wild thing," was revealed to be none other than Tony Soprano himself…James Gandolfini. That's right folks. He'll steal your heart, make you his king, and when you least expect it, he'll up and whack you.
As I try harder and harder to delve into the obscurities of this movie without ruining it for anyone who has yet to see it, I realize that even if I were to type the entire script, including directorial notes, you still probably wouldn't get it. I saw the movie and I still don't get it.
What I can say is that the movie, however confusing and obscure, did enable me to respect and appreciate the original story even more than I already did. It falls way short of glorifying Maurice Sendak's classic, but does highlight the main principle that the book succeeded to deliver: screw with your parents, and they will not hesitate to send you to bed without your supper.
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