"Where The Wild Things Are" (Directed by Spike Jonze, 2009)

I didn't read "Where the Wild Things Are" when I was a kid, so I didn't go into the movie with any preconceived ideas or deep attachment to the seven-sentence illustrated children's book.

I didn't really know what to expect, beyond a few words from my friend Tyrone and the knowledge that my friend Mary was a massive fan of the book -- and she's one whose opinion I respect.

I was really surprised by the film, which basically tells the story of a highly imaginative and emotional boy, his struggle to be understood and the world he creates in his imagination as a place of escape when things in his life -- as he sees them -- get really rocky.

Max, played by Max Records (The Brothers Bloom), is brilliant as the imaginative youngster. In the film, he explodes during an argument with his mother who is struggling to control him, while her boyfriend is over for dinner.

Cute and adorable at times, precocious, frustrating and maddening at others, Records is believable and real in a role that many child-actors would have made cutesy and annoying.

Instead of that, Records' Max is the kid whose potential is huge -- but who is also on the verge of being out of control, all the time. Basically, he's the kid who stands a 50/50 chance of ending up in either the gifted kids'classroom, or in detention, for the duration of his school career.

The film provides this background briefly and adequately and we learn quickly what kind of a boy we're dealing with here.

That understanding deepens broadly when Max and his mom square off, and he bolts out of the house, screaming 'it's not my fault!' -- and disappears into a nearby forest at dusk.

Then the line between the real and imaginary blurs as Max climbs into a small boat and sails away.

Where he ends up, is in an island dreamscape of his own creation -- the place "where the wild things are."

Here he meets a disharmonious band of misfit monsters in the midst of a massive domestic dispute.

Carol, the strong but emotionally volatile leader of the group (voiced by James Gandolfini -- sound familiar to his role in "The Sopranos"??) is on a rampage, destroying the huts they have built (and which keep them sleeping in separate spaces, rather than in a big pile as was the case in the past.)

In short, this is a dysfunctional family in need of a counsellor -- and that becomes Max, who is crowned as their new king in hopes he can make things right.

At first, he does, restoring joy and and comradeship and using his "magic shield" to keep out the loneliness that has plagued the "things" recently. All logic here is childlike and simple as the monsters and Max smash things and wrestle and create their own fun world.

But there's a dark side just under the surface too, and Max starts to see that solving the "things'" problems isn't going to be easy -- and as they start to doubt his royal pedigree and exhibit their dangerous side.'

These monstrous creatures are rendered convincingly through a mix of actors in costumes and computer generated graphics -- it's impossible tell where the real ends and the fake begins -- kind of like the way Max sees the world. They are mostly lovable, without being cute, and protective and safe while still being dangerous -- kind of like C.S. Lewis described "Aslan" in the Narnia series.

The narrative presents a fascinating insight into the imagination of a little boy, but it doesn't provide an obvious moral. Mostly, Max is just trying to figure out how to do the right thing. He asks two wise old owls "How do I make everything OK?"

But in the end, when he's done all he can -- won a couple of battles but lost a few others -- he realizes it's time to go home. After all, he's still a kid, still needs a warm bed at the end of the day, and still needs his mom to hug him and tell him everything is going to be alright.