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He's a mean one... Mr. Grinch. Sing-a-long to it, I know all of you remember the song from your childhood when watching the animated movie, Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas, was a rite of passage for every child around Christmas time. Well the doc is in again, but I'm not too sure if he would approve of this new version if he was still alive. I am not saying that this new version starring Jim Carey (Me, Myself & Irene) is bad, merely that the famed children's book author might not approve of the script. This being so since there is a lot of adult humor mixed in with the classic children's tale. As to the story, Carey plays the Grinch who is an outcast in Whoville, and he despises Christmas and all the Whoville residents because they are so cheerful about Christmas. Director Ron Howard then takes us down memory lane to discover why the Grinch hates Christmas so, it turns out he hates it because of a ho (I promise that this will be the one and only planned rhyme). That "ho" being a reference to a woman, and not something Santa would say (I am not being derogatory to women, I just needed something that would rhyme). Of course there is Cindy Lou Who (Taylor Momsen) that thaws the Grinch's heart (which is two sizes too small). But in-between the hate and the love, there are quite a few laughs to be had. One of the highlights is the Grinch's dog Max. Just like in the animated classic, Max is the Grinch's poor sidekick forced to help his owner practice evil upon the residents of Whoville, but Max does not do this willingly. Many other humorous moments come from Mayor May Who (Jeffrey Tambor, Girl, Interrupted), whom is also in love with the same girl as the Grinch, Ms. Martha May Whovier (Christine Baranski, Bowfinger). Jeffrey Price wrote the screenplay for this remake that has Sir Anthony Hopkins narrating, which is odd when you consider that the prose of Dr. Seuss is very different from Hopkins' Academy Award winning role as Hannibal Lector in The Silence of the Lambs. Ron Howard (aka Richie Cunningham/Opie) loaded the cast with quite a few people with the last name of Howard, including Jeremy, Clint, and Rance. The rest of the cast includes Bill Irwin, Molly Shannon, Lacey Kohl, Jim Meskimen, and T.J. Thyne. I found this remake quite funny with the body acting of Jim Carey being well suited for the role of the Grinch. I was definitely surprised by all of the adult humor intermixed into the story. The prop and stage people did a great job with making Whoville. Plus the make-up was superb for Carey and all the resident's of Whoville. So to sum it all up I would have to say that How The Grinch Stole Christmas is surprising, but still good. I give the film eight couches out of the usually ten possible couches. And to all a good night.
Last updated: Thursday, March 20, 2008 02:49:36 AM |
