Starring Jim Carrey, Taylor Momsen, Jeffrey Tambour, Jeremy Howard, Molly Shannon,
Christine Baranski, Clint Howard, Josh Ryan Evans, Anthony Hopkins (narrator).
Directed by Ron Howard.
Whoville is a magical little town where everyone loves Christmas. Christmas is approaching
fast, and town's folk are shopping for presents, houses are decorated with lights and
decorations, and a huge Christmas tree is in the centre square of the town. Young
Cindy Lou-Who (Momsen) is the only resident of Who not particularly looking forward
to Christmas. The mad dashing about and emphasis on presents does not inspire her.
Her postman father Dru (Jeremy Howard) is busy buying presents and sending Christmas
cards and her mother is
creating extravagant lighting on their house in order to best the reigning Queen of
Christmas Lights Martha-May Who-vier (Baranski). One day, Cindy goes in the back
of her father's post office and discovers a hairy creature - the Grinch (Carrey).
She falls into a conveyor system, and the Grinch reluctantly saves her.
When Cindy tells everyone of the Grinch's heroism and suggests to the town inhabitants
that they include the Grinch in their festivities, all are aghast. Mayor (Tambor)
and his toadie Who-bris (Clint Howard) lord over the Christmas celebrations and fear
the only thing that can ruin Christmas is the appearance of the Grinch. But Cindy
thinks everyone should be happy at Christmas and no one should be excluded. And
one member of the town hides a secret crush on the Grinch from when they were children,
and before the Grinch was run out of town.
Cindy nominates the Grinch to win an award for Christmas spirit and encourages him
to surprise the town and show up for the award. Predictable mayhem ensues.
By and large, this Grinch is a success. Director Howard and Jim Carrey have decided
to make the Grinch more manic and less scary. Anthony Hopkins narrates not as Hannibal
Lector but as a kindly grandfather overseeing Whoville. The Grinch is silly and
hairy looking to the point Cindy just giggles whenever he tries to scare her. At
the matinee showing I attended, the large group of children in attendance were laughing
loud and often (OK, I laughed too). There are enough one-liners by the Grinch to
keep adults interested too, including discussions of a cheque, the emptiness of his
schedule, recycling the towns garbage, and a crack about the desensitizing effect
of TV and movies. The sets and
costumes are excellent. Toy cars, snowy landscapes, bright lights and Christmas
trees create a festive and unique atmosphere. And the central theme of the Grinch
story, where commercialism has been allowed to overtake family and community as
the real meaning of Christmas, shines through clearly.
The key reason the film succeeds is Jim Carrey. He is unrecognizable under the
superb hairy costume, and his facial expressions within the mask are amazing. Very
quickly he becomes the Grinch, and all bad thoughts of Ace Ventura and
other dumb and dumber roles dissipate. He injects considerable amounts of his
trademark slapstick, but well-controlled and continually funny. The film sometimes
drags a bit, especially in some scenes where the grinch is doing some crazy thing
inside his mountain hideaway, but Carrey usually manages to keep things interesting.
It was reported he improvised some of his dialogue, and his energy and wit shine
through. As he's shown before, he's not just an Adam-Sandleresque goofball, but
a supremely talented performer. Little Taylor Momsen as Cindy is appropriately
adorable as the kind-hearted Cindy who reminds the town of the true meaning of
Christmas. Also very good is young Josh Ryan Evans who portrays the Grinch as a
young child, and we get to see the intolerance by his classmates that led to his
leaving town to live as a recluse high inside a mountain.
How The Grinch Stole Christmas is a fun and entertaining fable that both
children and adults can enjoy.
 
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