Just walked out of an early show of Spike Jonze’s beautifully dark, touching film Where the Wild Things Are. It was very good. Put simply, I found it to be a thoughtful, artful and moving look into the concept of family, and what it means to be a part of one. At the heart of the film is Max Records, age 12, a new face to the silver screen, and just the kind of face that Jonze needed to bring the emotional weight of this world to life. His performance is splendid, bringing the audience in close on his journey as Max and keeping us among his best friends for each of the film’s 94-minutes.
If you’re seeing Wild Things for the first time today, as I expect many of you will be, you might walk away thinking that this young guy was brilliant, and perfectly cast. You may also be curious as to how he became the heart and soul of this film. Thanks to this newly released featurette, which showed up on Apple today, you can do exactly that. Check it out below.
