Where the Wild Things Are

Who hasn't heard of the book, Where the Wild Things Are? If you're one of the blessed to have read it and have not seen the film, save yourself the heartache and avoid the DVD.

I don't know what happened in the transfer, if Spike Jones (the director) was attempting to make a kid's book into an independent film and failed miserably or if he was trying to make a children's film and failed miserably.

When you look at the voices for the creatures, you'd think this would be a winner. We had: Forest Whitaker, Chris Cooper, Lauren Ambrose, James Gandolfini, Paul Dano and Catherine O'Hara. Big-time actors. However, this interpretation left me feeling, "I just wasted 101 minutes on this travesty."

Max lives with his mom and sister. And feels like nobody cares about him. It's the typical growing up cliche. After biting his mom on the shoulder, Max runs away from home, jumps in a boat and ends up in a new land filled with monsters.

These monsters behave like him and he proclaims himself "king". The monsters follow his commands as they construct a fort, have mud clod wars and howl into the sky.

But then conflicts arise and Max realizes you can't stay a kid forever.

Stick with the book and avoid this film.