Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Reviewed by:
Eric Alt

How’s this for a Grinch thought? Hollywood has taken a simple cartoon musical and turned it into a $100 million blockbuster movie (powered by a several million dollar licensing campaign) that’s supposed to teach us that Christmas isn’t all about presents and greed? How does that go again?

In the hands of a more daring director (think Tim Burton, ’cause Ron Howard obviously was in every damn frame), How the Grinch Stole Christmas might have been a twisted good time. As it stands, it’s simply a good time. Jim Carrey’s performance is manic and funny and wild—it’s amazing how his rubbery facial expressions defy tons of make-up—but don’t ever think this is anything more than a children’s movie. Although there are some attempts at “adult” humor (Did you know that the Whos had key parties back in the day? Those kinds of thoughts keep us up at night), it’s pretty much a romp for the young ’uns. Fans of the original may either cringe or delight at the “Portrait of the Grinch as a Young Man” segment that attempts to dig up this mean guy’s troubled youth (not being hardcore fans, we kinda enjoyed it). But again, leave it to Hollywood to try to deepen the motivations of cartoons when they can’t even give real people any depth. Sigh. Everything is handled with a light touch and the visual effects are impressive. (Despite the disappointingly muted colors of Whoville—we expected it to burst off the screen. As it stands, it kinda looks like a foggy backlot.) If you need something to get you in the Christmas mood, you could do worse.

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