She Likes to Watch

“The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind and another his mother called him ‘WILD THING!’ and Max said ‘I’LL EAT YOU UP!’ and so he was sent to bed without eating anything.

That very night in Max’s room a forest grew …”

– “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak

Director Spike Jonze does an imaginative, heartfelt take on “Where the Wild Things Are”

Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are,” has always been much more than a picture book.

An imaginative, energetic story that has enchanted children since it was published in 1963, the Caldecott Medal-winning book has inspired rock albums, animated shorts, a children’s opera — even an episode of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

Now a new film adaptation of “Where the Wild Things Are” has taken Sendak’s timeless story to new heights. It’s at once a believable coming-of-age tale and a heartfelt look at human relationships, filtered through director Spike Jonze’s unique lens.

Like Sendak’s book, Jonze’s film begins with an out-of-control Max (Max Records, “The Brothers Bloom”) running wild.

He throws snowballs at his sister. He trashes her room. He interrupts a cozy moment between his harried mother (Catherine Keener) and her boyfriend (Mark Ruffalo, then throws a temper tantrum — stomping, yelling and, eventually, biting.

Mom orders Max to his room. He runs out of the door … and out of reality altogether.

From the moment Max boards a small skiff and sets out on a perilous sea voyage, he enters a fantasy realm every bit as compelling as Sendak’s imaginative drawings — the magical, mysterious Land of the Wild Things.

And what wild things they are! Fierce, fantastic creatures with huge horns and sharp claws, fur and feathers. These monsters may have the warm, comforting voices of Forest Whitaker and James Gandolfini, but their bodies are big and dangerous, capable of crushing a little boy’s head like a cantaloupe.

In short, they’re ideal playmates for a 10-year-old with a lot of extra energy.

Once Max convinces the squabbling monsters that he has magical powers, spinning a wild tale about Vikings and exploding heads, the Wild Things appoint him their king.

“Well, king. What’s your first order of business?” asks Carol (voiced by James Gandolfini), a massive monster with striped fur, a fluffy tail and sharp, far-spaced teeth.

Max doesn’t even hesitate.

“Let the wild rumpus start,” he shouts. And “Where the Wild Things Are” explodes into play.

Max and his newfound friends slide down sand dunes, rip trees and boulders from their roots and carve channels into tree trunks with their claws. They dig tunnels and hurl dirt clods with glee.

When Carol shows Max his exquisite model of a mountain range — “It’s going to be a place where only the things you want to happen, would happen” –  the kid commands the Wild Things to build an enormous, nest-like fort and promises that “We’ll take care of each other and we’ll all sleep together in a real pile.”

Yet Max’s projects can’t distract the Wild Things from their problems, just as he can’t stop thinking about his unhappy home life.

The ersatz king must chose whether it’s better to rein or return home.

In adapting “Where the Wild Things Are” for the screen, director Spike Jonze and co-writer Dave Eggers (“Away We Go”) have undertaken a huge challenge — that of turning a 10-sentence text read and loved by generations of children to a 101-minute feature film.

Their approach is deeply personal and highly imaginative. And, for the most part, it pays off.

Although the story feels slim at times and desperately dark at others, “Where the Wild Things Are” never ceases to charm with its inventive visual style and honest, heartfelt approach to childhood’s ups and downs.

The cinematography, shot in the southern Australian state of Victoria, is stunning. And the soundtrack — a wild collection of yips, yelps and brutish yawps created by Karen O. of The Ya Ya Yas and Carter Burwell — is truly enchanting.

Jonze’s affection for the source material, and his young lead, is clear.

He makes his wisest directorial decision by letting Max act “like a kid,” with all the emotion, confusion, mercurial moods and unhindered joy that the term entails. The result is a beautifully natural and open performance by Max Records — a rarity for child actors these days.

Max is joined in his adventures by the Wild Things, which look even better on screen than they did on the page. Portrayed by actors in 8-foot-tall furry suits and voiced by the likes of Catherine O’Hara, Chris Cooper, Lauren Ambrose and Paul Dano, they boast computer-animated features capable of expressing everything from delight to despair.

With its raw depiction of divorced parents, feuding friends and lonely kids, “Where the Wild Things Are” can be hard to watch — especial for children experiencing the same mixture of anger, jealousy and fear as Max.

The movie doesn’t offer any easy answers. But it carries a genuine emotional weight, a sincerity and sadness shared by adults and children alike.

More than any other children’s film this year, “Where the Wild Things Are” understands what it’s like to be a kid.