Warning: Christmas lovers beware.
Every child grew up with Dr. Seuss's charming story, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Unfortunately, Universal Pictures has stolen most of that charm. Director Ron Howard tries desperately to turn the classic cartoon into a 102-minute live-action film, but his efforts are in vain.
Children smile as little Cindy Lou Who (newcomer Taylor Momsen) gets encompassed by a wall of presents and laugh as the Grinch (Jim Carrey) runs around his cave preparing to descend into Whoville complaining, "I have nothing to wear!" Those of us in "Hooville" who are over the age of 11, however, will find little of value beyond several chuckle-worthy one-liners from Carrey.
Carrey puts on his typical performance. It is full of energy and worthy of a laugh, but reeks of familiarity. Picture this: He wears a green mask, falls in love with a blonde and dances as the lead in a Congo line. Wait, was that "The Mask" or "Grinch"? One further problem this movie presented was that Carrey's face, his normal source of humor, was restricted by his loathsome green latex mask. Not only did this stunt his humor, but it also muffled his voice.
The overall theme of "Grinch" was society's current compulsion with materialism. The opening scene shows the residents of Whoville rushing off to whichever store happens to be shouting "Sale!" and a mob of frantic Whos at the post office trying to mail their mountains of gifts. The post office worker, central character Cindy Lou Who's father, seemed to be a typical overworked, stressed man with little holiday spirit. This cheery image is what is supposed to lead the viewer to a warm, fuzzy holiday feeling?
Seuss's story showed the whole town joyfully singing even when their gifts were gone, demonstrating that the spirit of the season was more important than any gift. In this film version, only Cindy shares that sentiment. Jeffrey Price makes other changes in his screenplay. The Grinch, we learn, actually was once a member of Whoville. Unfortunately, the townspeople of Whoville look like wax versions of a cross between humans and rats.
Visually, the movie is a brightly colored world of plastic, with every resident wearing more wax on their face than can be found on the average candle. During the opening sweep through Whoville, the choreography and town layout look suspiciously similar to most Disney movies, especially their made-for-television movie "Cinderella."
The Grinch comes complete with a green face, off-kilter smile, and long, hairy fingers that seem to impair his movements more than some women's 6-inch acrylic nails. His home inside Mt. Crumpit looks like a mix between the Batcave and the engine room of the Titanic. Numerous levers and gears adorn his spacious walls, though their purpose remains unknown.
Price's adaptation also makes one more fundamental change that significantly alters the story. In Seuss's original, the Grinch cannot stand all the noise produced by Whoville on Christmas morning, so he decides to "try to stop Christmas from coming." When the townspeople joyously begin to singing aloud together on Christmas morning despite their lack of gifts, the Grinch finally understands the holiday's true meaning.
Price and Howard, however, decided the Grinch should be a town outcast who was jealous of the town mayor because he had a crush on his wife May (Molly Shannon). In order to make a 26-minute cartoon into a full-length film, it was necessary to focus in on one angle of he story. However, making that angle a cheap attempt at a romance between the Grinch and the wife of Whoville's mayor was dull. Not every movie needs a love story.
Howard did make some good choices, however. His opening sequence takes place inside a snowflake - an interesting idea. But it gets a little lost in the execution, and the snowflake ends up looking like a mound of crusty, glitter-drenched Cheetos.
Some stories are simply better left alone. It is difficult to make a cartoon come to life. Howard and Price lose the whole feeling of Christmas and the theme of Seuss's original story - "Grinch" does succeed this time in stealing the Christmas spirit.
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