Phil C.

My problem with WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE is that they felt the need to give Max a reason for his temper tantrum: he's clearly suffering from parental neglect! Mom has a *gasp* boyfriend over! Max therefore is a victim of the Terrible Single Mother, an archetype I'm getting very damn sick of. In the book, Max was being a twerp because sometimes little boys are twerps and need a time-out. At the end, he comes back from the land of the Wild Things because he knew his mother loved him and forgave him for being a twerp. I will go see the movie, because it's hard to judge from a promo and because Kiddo will insist. But I dearly hope it is more the latter than the former.