**** Mild spoilers ahead**** This was one of my favorite books as a child and one of my least favorite movies as college student. To those who know Jonze, it's not surprise the way the film ended up. It's angst-ridden and filled with light easy-listening indie pop music. I'm not one for nostalgia but this film utterly failed to capture the spirit of the book. It seems like Maurice Sendak, who was involved in the making of the film, forgot what he wrote more than 35 years ago. The book had a story of adventure and freedom, while the film is overly-dramatic, filled with almost constant sadness. There's nothing wrong with a film departing from the book its based on, but this film is a poor one even in a vacuum. The constant sorrow in the film takes away from what could be a very touching scene of Max leaving the island. Because the characters are so sad throughout the film, there's no real change in emotion in the final scene. Jonze puts the monsters in constant conflict with each other, back and forth between love and hate and it gets tiresome very quickly. However it is incredibly beautiful and the animation/puppetry is stunning. Children will likely be frightened by the violent interactions and probably turned off by the slow pace and dialogue that will likely be over their heads.

Not sure why people are upset that they can't take their small children; wait for Astroboy, or see Chance of Meatballs still in theaters. It may be that the age appropriateness of the book needs re-evaluation. In the book and film the boy is threatening a dog with a fork after all. Get a babysitter and go see this movie, or take your older child if you must. It is excellently directed, will have you laughing, and your heart palpitating. The rumpus is fun, but there is always an edge of peril. The film deals with loneliness, and fear, and trying to cope with those things in a healthy way, rather than acting out (sometimes violently) and alienating the very people (or monsters) you love. The photography is gorgeous, and the monsters are incredible replicas. I think Jonze does a fair reading of the book, and interprets it into film beautifully.

I took my three boys, ages 3, 8, and 10 to see it. They all liked it and my husband and I were very happy with how the book had been turned into a movie. I had read an article interviewing Spike Jonze and Maurice Sendak, so I knew that it was a "real movie" with "real kids" discussing difficult emotions and not just a feel-good happy movie. I talked with my kids ahead of time and that helped prepare them.

I loved this movie and used it as a teaching tool about expressing feelings. My children are in a single parent home and have displayed some of the same emotions that Max has. Kids can learn from this that anger isn't the way to solve feelings of sadness or lonliness. I love the slower pace and the fact that the film wasn't in your face with resolution. Life isn't like that. It has a much more subtle ending that shows unconditional love.

I loved it. My Fiance Loved it! Tripp liked it OK. He didn't remember the book too much so we revisited it after wards and He liked the characters - he was able to identify the roles each of the characters plays int he boys life and could relate to his own issues. Some people are shying away because they think it's too scary, but if you only look at the trailer, you will not get the full breath of the story. Althought it can be a little tense at moments, It is not really a violent movie nor is it really scary. A must watch for young and old

My children all loved the book, and grew up listening to all of Maurice Sendak's books over and over upon request. I am not usually one to go to the movies, my forte is reading. My oldest son saw the movie, he is a sophmore in college, and told me I needed to see it. He confided that he cried. It has taken me months and months to getting around to finally seeing it, and I can't begin to say enough WONDERFUL things about it!!! What I don't understand is the gloom and doom reviews it was given with so much talk about how scary it was. Personally I think it was incredibly thought provoking and insightful in portraying childhood in all its glory. I would have no problem showing it to any child five and up as it was not Hollywood violent and the subject matter, language, and visuals are all appropriate.

This movie is not for lazy parents. Uninvolved parents should leave their kids home. You are dead wrong if you think you can take your children to this movie without talking with them before, maybe during, and definitely after. The messages around lonliness are very powerful. The messages are around family, love, caring about others...it's really about Emotional Intelligence. And these messages are very complex, intimate, moving, and nuanced. The cinematography is intense and the directing is just odd enough to shake up the "normal" way that movies try to show personal connections. There is real value in this movie. You can teach your children to develop their own values with this movie. Just do it actively. If you're lazy with your kids, then don't take them until they're 16.

When my girlfriend and I left the theater (feeling sorely disappointed though slightly less weighed down by those pesky dollars) I told her that I thought this movie must be the visual adaptation of a child regression psychotherapy session on acid for a severely dysfunctional child. I take it back...its just a dysfunctional kid on acid. There's nothing to get here, no key that unlocks all of the mysteries and intricacies of the plot or concepts involved. Its not even artistic, really...Sure it looks great, but there are much better written, directed, and acted movies that artistically portray the perspective that life is hard when you're a kid....as if we don't remember, and they don't know. Even if they "liked" the movie, the unexplained dysfunctional interactions between the characters would be confusing to any child, esp those from dysfunctional homes.... Please, don't waste your money...

My 14 year old enjoyed it but this movie felt like a looooong nap to me sprinkled with bits of inappropriately violent/dark scenes...I was really looking for ward to this one--not great to sit through though.