Exploring the mind of an angry little boy, Where the Wild Things Are is an psychological exploratory fantasy of intriguing depth.
Comment
12/12/09
Rate this Movie 
- Showtimes & Tickets
- Write a Review
- Read Reviews
- Add to List
- Get this Movie
- Buy Poster
- Visit Official Site
Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
73
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work
Reviews Counted:230
Fresh:168
Rotten:62
Average Rating:7/10
Consensus: Some may find its dark tone and slender narrative off-putting, but Spike Jonze's heartfelt adaptation of the classic children's book is as beautiful as it is uncompromising.
Rated: PG [See Full Rating]
Genre: Childrens
Theatrical Release:Oct 16, 2009 Wide
Box Office: $75,698,188
Synopsis: Innovative director Spike Jonze collaborates with celebrated author Maurice Sendak to bring one of the most beloved books of all time to the big screen in “Where the Wild Things Are,” a classic... [More]
Starring: Paul Dano, Forest Whitaker, Mark Ruffalo, Catherine Keener
Director: Spike Jonze
Get This Movie
Rent DVD
Click on the "SAVE" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.
Reviews for Where the Wild Things Are
A film for anyone who’s ever climbed trees, grazed knees or basked in the comfort of a parent’s sympathy as they’ve pulled you off the ground crying. It’ll make your inner child run wild.
12/11/09
‘Where the Wild Things Are’ stands out for its unusually potent evocation of the timbre of childhood imagining, with its combination of the outré and the banal, grand schemes jumbled up with delicate feelings and the urge to smash things up.
12/11/09
Don't go expecting joyous escapism, but if you're interested in seeing melancholic auteur filmmaking, complete with a lush soundtrack... you won't see a more compelling film this year.
12/11/09
It’s all very charming and quirky... But it’s also, ultimately, a little flimsy and unlikely to achieve anything like the iconic status of its source material.
12/11/09
Jonze's Wild Things is an altogether darker, colder picture: a film about the way children can lose their fear of the world only by losing their innocence.
12/11/09
Loud, narcotised, emotionally stunted, it’s so eager to avoid the horrors of mainstream commodity culture that it concocts a defensive version of pre-adulthood.
12/11/09
It moves smoothly from the sublime to the ridiculous, it inhabits the dual worlds of fantasy and reality, and articulates something profoundly simple about both.
12/11/09
An uncommonly sobering yet ethereal kiddie flick.
12/11/09
Jonze’s inspired evocation of childhood may strike a chord with adults; for younger audience members still living it, the appeal is far from certain.
12/11/09
Not as easy or airbrushed as Potter, Ice Age, or Narnia then, but with its darkness, loneliness, and wonder, it might be the most honest kids' film of the year.
12/11/09
A poignant dissection of youth with nine-foot furry monsters, gorgeous production design, frenetic camerawork and a playful, wistful score from Karen O. Never mind the little ones. This beauty will have most grown-ups blubbing.
12/11/09
In some respects, Jonze is the geek who never grew up: and with Where The Wild Things Are, he reminds us that the simple pleasure of childhood is running around and screaming with abandon.
12/11/09
[Jonze's] take on Maurice Sendak's much-loved children's book does offer plenty of wildness and wackiness, although it's also unusually sombre.
12/11/09
Jonze has created one of the most offbeat, original and interesting films of the year. It's just a pity he didn't make it more accessible for children - and remove it a lot farther from the therapist's couch.
12/11/09
The effects are spot-on, little Max Records is ace as the story's boisterous nine-year-old hero while the film mostly avoids the treacle that mars so many kids' pics.
12/11/09
Whereas many child actors make you feel a little bit sick, Records is astounding in the lead role.
12/11/09
Shouldn’t therapy, at least in art for or about childhood, be fun? The book was entrancing. The book deserved better. Happily there is still time, before the world ends, for someone else to film it. For now: return to Sendak.
12/11/09
I have no idea what Jonze and Eggers are trying to say here, either to children or to adults, but it's difficult to imagine how they could have made a more tedious and exasperating attempt at it.
12/11/09
It’s hard to conclude this is a film for children but it will provide any adult with a bittersweet reminder of childhood’s distant joys and woes.
12/11/09
Latest News for Where the Wild Things Are
December 11, 2009:
The Effects of Where the Wild Things Are
Spike Jonze's eagerly-anticipated adaptation of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are was initially supposed to use entirely practical effects, but the director soon... More...
December 07, 2009:
Exclusive: The World of Where the Wild Things Are
It has taken Being John Malkovich and Adaptation director Spike Jonze more than five years to bring Where the Wild Things Are to the big screen. Maurice Sendak, the writer and... More...
November 22, 2009:
Win A Signed Where the Wild Things Are Poster
It's one of 2009's most anticipated films -- director Spike Jonze's adaptation of Maurice Sendak's kids' classic, Where the Wild Things Are -- and it's almost, at long last,... More...
October 18, 2009:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: Audiences Eat Up Wild Things
Three new releases hit the multiplexes while one indie sensation expands nationally hoping to strike gold and shake up the establishment. Leading the charge is the family film... More...
RT On Current TV
What’s Hot On RT
Fresh Links
Featured
MSN's Year in Review
Take a look at MSN's choices for the Top 10 films of 2009.
Moviefone's Year End Movie Poll
What were your favorites? Least favorites? The funniest and scariest? Moviefone wants to know!
Tarantino's Characters
Hollywood.com explores why QT's characters resonate so well with audiences.
Top 10 Movies of 2009
TIME chimes in with their own list of the best films released this year.
Top 20 of the Decade
Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!
IGN RSS Feeds