Where the Wild Things Are

So, I just saw the film...more of a preview mission than anything...seeing if it would scare my son before I let him watch it.

I think he would have been asleep within the first 20 minutes...or at least running around doing something else more his speed.

While I wouldn't recommend the film for a young audience (as I believe the critics already warned early on), I found it very interesting and much deeper (Freudian even) than I would've expected. And I appreciate the filmmakers for their rendition of such a beautiful and cherished children's book. It was serious, thoughtful, whimsical, imaginative, and complex...just like a child. Whoever wrote the screenplay really had a handle on the minds of young boys and the games that they play.

This was not a simple film...but it made me smile. And it was far from a disappointment, as some movies that have been made from long-loved books have been.

It was also unexpected. Darker. But it kept the heart of the original at its core. Every time I read the book out loud to my son now, I will see those characters in a new light. And yet...I will still feel the same about the message:

"Please stay...don't go...I'll eat you up...I love you so."

Human relationships are funny. We hurt the ones we love, forget to say it, love too much, love too little...

But, I guess as long as we don't forget to love, we are hard not to forgive.

Where the Wild Things Are - official website