Where The Wild Things Are...

Disclaimer: This may spoil the movie for someone who hasn't seen it and still wants to. Proceed at your own risk!

I took my son to see this movie when it first came out a month ago. I really liked the movie, but couldn't really say why. I couldn't put my finger on what made the movie special.

There were no spectacular plot points to examine, no dramatic action scenes, no happily ever after. It was just a good movie.

And then it hit me. This morning....in the shower...a month after I'd seen the movie, I realized what made it special.

It was real. The story is about a boy, maybe 8 or 9 years old, who deals with the confusion and anger of real life by escaping to a fantasy world of his own making. Then, after spending some period of time there, he realizes that he can't stay there forever, and he goes home. The end.

There was no summation of major breakthroughs, no telling the audience what they had seen, and then how they should feel about it. Just real life. Take from it what you need to, or want to, or can relate to. That's it.

How novel. And refreshing.