In the aptly titled Where the Wild Things Are, a troubled and lonely little boy runs away from home, steals a sailboat and crashes on the rocky shore of an island where he meets a zoo full of galoomphing out-of-this world creatures who can’t decide at first whether to eat him or crown him their king.

Based on a popular children’s book by Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are is one of the oddest and most bizarre-looking films you’re ever likely to come across. And one that’s not exactly enticing either.

Although there are creatures on this strange island that look sort of like a bird, a goat and a bull, the rest look like broad-mouthed, squat and very hairy renditions of Bigfoot, pretty much like Sendak’s drawings. Max (Max Records), the little boy, looks odd, too, because he ran away at night dressed in his wolf pajamas which have pointy ears and a very long tail. The island creatures are as mystified by the way Max looks as he is of them.

The creatures have names like Ira and Julius and speak in very soft, well-modulated tones like some aging hippies … except when they’re riled, which is easily done. Then their emotions run away with them and they sound more than a little scary, especially when they toy with the idea of devouring Max. They’re given voice by the likes of James Gandolfini as the troubled Carol, whom we first see destroying the nest-like woven-twig huts that the various creatures live in, and Catherine O’Hara as the world-weary Judith, who feels as though she’s never given proper respect.

Carol is upset because his lady friend, KW (Lauren Ambrose), has left and has made new friends with a pair of white owls. But Carol quickly cottons to Max and, with Carol’s support, the other creatures crown Max their king after he lies to them that he once was king of the Vikings. Rather than precocious, Max seems more like a spoiled, nasty little boy who will do anything to get his way.

Carol dreams of one day creating a fantasy city of pyramid-like woven twigs, although he only has a scale model built so far. Max believes he can rally the creatures under his leadership and help Carol build his dream city. They, looking for a leader to follow, are eager to believe in Max.

But the truth eventually catches up to Max as things go swiftly downhill. A game that involves tossing clods of dirt at one another gets more out of hand than Max had hoped, much like the snowball fight that left him in tears in the real world at the start of the film. He must also deal with Judith, who is jealous of his supposed powers over the other creatures and is dismissive of Max.

Max’s fantasy world, of course, mirrors his own troubled life in the real world. In his eventual realization of this, Max discovers that rather than being a force that will pull these oddball creatures together, his presence is divisive. “I really messed things up,” he sighs.

It’s supposed to be a wake-up call for children to help them understand that there are consequences to their emotional outbursts. But Where the Wild Things Are, directed by Spike Jonze (Adaptation, Becoming John Malkovich), may be too off-putting to get that message across.

**Where the Wild Things Are

Starring: Max Records, Catherine Keener, Mark Ruffalo; voices: James Gandolfini, Catherine O’Hara, Forest Whitaker, Chris Cooper, Paul Dano, Michael Berry Jr.

Rated: PG, contains violence.

mjanuson@projo.com