Where the Wild Things Are

I have never read Maurice Sendak's book of the same name and so when a friend and I decided to catch a movie last night I suggested this one.  If I had to impart one piece of wisdom to sum up this movie it would be "Don't bother".

This is not a children's movie in any sense . (Take note dude who arrived about 30 minutes into the film with two children in tow under the age of 7, check the rating guide occasionally) It is a disturbing dark movie with not much to like or be uplifted about.

I wasn't expecting whimsical , fluffy little creatures or a sugary story but the film has an edgy underlying tone almost like domestic violence. Carol manipulates the other "things" by using fear and unpredictable responses to keep everyone in line. He shows no insight into the way his behaviour affects others. None of the characters in the film do. Everyone has a major issue and should be in psychoanalysis on a therapists couch at least 3 sessions a week.  So many things led nowhere. I'm not sure what the introduction of Bob and Terry were meant to do for the film besides stir up more bad feeling and controversy. Being a massive fan of The Soprano's TV series I had to wonder whether I was being influenced by the voice of James Gandolfini as Carol. I expected him to whack one of the other "things" at any moment, such was the undercurrent of violence.

There was no resolution, no lessons learned, the ending was abrupt and completely unsatisfying.  I would say I missed the finer points and messages of the film  but I'm not sure there were any.

This will never be making it's way into my DVD collection.