Film Rating: A-

My thoughts on a film have rarely been so conflicted as they are for Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are. Technically, this is a great movie, and I love so many things about it. But when the credits rolled, I wasn't in love with the film. In fact, I wanted to get the heck out of the theater and go home, because the film had left me exhausted and depressed. Above all, the movie is one I never wish to revisit.

Everyone knows the story: a young boy named Max misbehaves, is sent to his room without supper, and creates an imaginary world for himself full of "wild things." The book is only ten sentences long, and I can give the filmmakers no higher praise than to say that they've effortlessly turned the book into a 100-minute movie. Nothing in the film feels like filler, and everything on the screen is faithful to the spirit of Maurice Sendak's classic. This isn't Ron Howard's How the Grinch Stole Christmas or anything like that-this was obviously a labor of love.

The movie opens like the book does, establishing Max's real life (in much greater detail than in the book). The first twenty minutes is actually my favorite part of the film, because Jonze establishes Max's life quickly, thoroughly, and with almost no dialogue. It's here that we see what a great young actor Jonze has found in newcomer Max Records, who inhabits the lead role with such a raw authenticity that his performance doesn't even resemble acting. Max is mad at the world because his sister is growing up and forgetting him; his dad's gone and his mom has a new boyfriend. He doesn't like any of it, and like any nine-year-old, he doesn't know how to react.

All of this is established without the filmmakers ever feeling the need to spell things out for the audience-it's all implied subtly, and that draws us into the world in a very powerful way. This turns out to be the movie's best trait throughout, because when Max does run away to the world of the Wild Things, everything that happens is metaphorical. Max's adventures in taming the Wild Things, building a fort, etc. may be what's happening on screen, but that's not the real story. The story becomes clear when you start to think about what's going, and relate these wondrous occurrences to the film's early scenes.

This is not a film you can turn your brain off during-it takes a lot of thought and concentration to understand, because every event on the island of the Wild Things means something more than what we see. Each Wild character is either a different part of Max's psyche or a representation of someone important to him, and thus his experiences with the creatures allow him to learn more about himself. Deciphering these metaphors is essential to enjoying and comprehending the film.

Perhaps, from that statement, you can gather one of the key conundrums audiences are bound to have with the film-it's based on a kid's classic, but this is in no way a kid's film. It exists on a higher philosophical plane than what kids are most likely able to understand. However, that doesn't mean that the movie is any more enjoyable for adults.

I loved all the metaphors, and I loved how intricately the world of the Wild Things was woven into Max's real life. But because the film is much more interested in psychology than anything else, and because Max's mind is going through a dark phase, the movie ends up being very depressing. By the time the movie hits the halfway point, all the fun has dried up, and the filmmakers have thrown in the towel in regards to giving the audience a good time. The third act is dark, disturbing, and heart-wrenchingly sad. The movie is so incredibly good at getting its message and thematic material across that once we comprehend it, it only makes us as sad as the characters.

Where the Wild Things Are does pretty much everything right. As I said, Max Records is amazing as Max, and the voice cast for the Wild Things is excellent (James Gandolfini's performance in particular). The visuals are astounding throughout, and the Wild Things themselves are a wonder to behold, a seamless mix of creative costumes and (limited) CGI.

But I was not entertained by the film. Even the saddest of tragic movies can still be engaging and entertaining; sad stories can make you sad without making you leave the theater depressed, and Wild Things did not achieve that. It's hard to describe just how bleak and dark the movie ends up being; simply thinking about the film makes me depressed, and I've never been able to say that about a film that is, on most conceivable levels, great. I never want to see the film again, and I can't give it a whole-hearted recommendation-it is a good movie, however. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood. Maybe it just wasn't my thing. Other people have loved this movie. Some have hated it. I think everyone will have a different reaction to this film, but for now, I'm just not in love with the production.