Release Date:  October 16, 2009
Rating:  PG (for mild thematic elements, some adventure action and brief language)
Genre:  Action/Adventure, Drama, Adaptation
Run Time:  101 min.
Director:  Spike Jonze
Actors:  Max Records, Pepita Emmerichs, Catherine Keener, Steve Mouzakis, Mark Ruffalo, James Gandolfini (voice), Chris Cooper (voice), Catherine O' Hara (voice)

Clocking in at a mere 339 words, Maurice Sendak's beloved children's book Where the Wild Things Are easily proves the "less is more" adage that a truly powerful story can be told without going on and on and on.

When that aforementioned book, classic or not, is optioned for big-screen treatment, well, it's going to take a substantial effort, namely a smart screenplay, to make a truly memorable transition.

I'm guessing this is something that director Spike Jonze (Adaptation, Being John Malkovich) anticipated, too, so with Sendak's blessing, Jonze eventually recruited acclaimed novelist Dave Eggers, who co-wrote Away We Go, another sparse indie pic that also frequently favored style over story development.

Even with two talented writers onboard and a mostly faithful rendering of this seminal coming-of-age story, Where the Wild Things Are is ultimately big on imagination and arresting visuals but seriously slight of script. Truth be told, not much actually happens, which isn't exactly the best use of 101 minutes. Or enough to satiate most people's need for the plot to keep moving.

Unlike, say, the recent adaptation of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs where the source material's themes and takeaway value were creatively stretched to feature film length, Where the Wild Things Are starts off promising and quickly peters out after the first 30 minutes.

In fact, if you're thinking this is a flick for the whole family to enjoy, you'll probably want to think again. Not only is the mostly melancholy movie a decidedly adult look into a child's world, but Jonze's more abstract, artsy storytelling approach won't likely impress anyone under the age of 14.

But for anyone willing to look past the film's flimsy, wafer-thin storyline, there are still plenty of cinematic treasures in Where the Wild Things Are nonetheless.

While it definitely has the independent movie spirit, right down to the use of humans in giant monsters' costumes a la The Muppet Show rather than opting for fancy CGI trickery, the filmmakers make up for a lack of bells and whistles with an intricate, gorgeously crafted landscape.