How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

Alright everyone, the wait is finally over. I have now seen the 2000 version of Dr. Seuss’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” and now you will hear my thoughts. It’s that type of feeling you get when you finally have opened all of your Christmas presents, you want more after five minutes. Even though nothing seems to be missing, you have that indescribable feeling that you want more. There is so much buildup, that even though you are happy by the end, it’s not enough.

Jim Carrey does a tremendous job as the Grinch, hands down. His facial expressions fit the bad ole Grinch perfectly, without stealing the heart of the most evil Dr. Seuss character in all of his books. Carrey proves here that he is man enough to balance two larger-than-life personalities: the Grinch and himself. The mixture that Carrey gives to his fans – giving enough of himself in the role without annihilating the Grinch in the process – is really the crux of his performance.

Overall, the movie stays true to the message of Dr. Seuss’ original 1957 story and the 1966 animated version, although there’s a good deal of stretching required to make this a feature-length film. In this version, from high atop Mt. Crumpit, the Grinch is positively disgusted at all the Whos in Whoville happy with preparations for Christmas. He decides to go incognito in town to mess up a few things, and runs into Cindy Lou Who, played Taylor Momsen, who’s struggling with her own doubts about the true meaning of Christmas. Interested by this encounter, Cindy Lou goes out around town to ask the townspeople about the Grinch. These parts weren’t in the book, and they don’t seem to add much to the story, except the past history.

At this point, the film comes back to the original story, although it has a handful of computer animated effects and a few instances that play to adult humor. Wait that’s not what Dr. Seuss did in his books. With wonderful costumes and sets made for fantasy, this film should make viewers feel warm, but may not do a good job doing so. Aileo Weinmann ended his review by saying, “The only thing you shouldn't expect is to be surprised, which I must admit I was kind of hoping for.”

It’s not a very good Christmas adaptation, but if you love Jim Carrey going all out, like I do, then you should watch this film. However, there are fillers in here that don’t seem appropriate for this family Christmas special that could have worked if they didn’t make the film this long. Maybe somewhere in the 90 minute mark would have been appropriate if they didn’t add all of these scenes that made you feel dirty. I would have to give this film a 5.

Well, tomorrow is Christmas Day. I think it would be appropriate to end my 25 day of Christmas film reviews with a good special. Find out tomorrow to see what I will review.