Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Jim Carrey, Jeffrey Tambor)
Now here's a weird movie.
Having only seen the original animated TV version a few years ago for the first time, I can honestly say I'm not really a huge fan of the Grinch or its Seuss-y connotations. I suppose for those who enjoy a good Christmas villain, the Grinch is a fine target; ugly and with a heart two sizes too small, he physically embodies the slimy characteristics Dickens so expertly wrote of in Ebenezer Scrooge. But I'm not really a fan of Fooflangers and Zoozangers or the mystique generally surrounding the Grinch. This could explain my unexpectedly pleasant surprise upon seeing Ron Howard's recent live-action, big-budget adaptation of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
I'd first seen it in theatres last year, but this year Santa brought a VHS copy to our family, so I figured a second look was in order. It is better than the animated Boris Karloff version, but there are still some things that seem out of whack.
I'll start with what works. As the Grinch, Jim Carrey is at an elastic-faced peak, not allowing such trivialities as costume or make-up to impede what is primarily a physical performance. I think the dramatic work he has done of late has been superb, and now, thankfully, his comedies are also slowly coming along too. He was great in Liar Liar and Batman Forever (these, temporarily, helped me forget the awful Ace Ventura franchise). Here, an entire make-believe world has been made for Carrey to play in (a secret hideout atop a mountain boasts broken beds and grimy props), and he uses it to full advantage. The second aspect that works is Little Cindy Lou Who, as played by Taylor Momsen. At first, she comes across as a know-it-all child prodigy who adores big words, but then her performance becomes so entrancing, you think of her even when she's not onscreen. Lastly, the screenplay is a lot better than one might expect. Written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman, we get to see a Grinch who has actual moments of goodness, something which is sorely missing from the original Seuss material. In one of the movie's early scenes, he does something nice, and even though he tries to cover it up immediately afterward by doing something mean, the damage is done and we start to see his humanity throughout the rest of the movie. A glib flashback to his youth is also of note for its stance on cruelty and peer pressure.
Alas, the attempt to bring How the Grinch Stole Christmas to the big screen also means some curiously phony special effects and a real make-up disaster for most of the Who's in Whoville. Even when they're happy, they look angry (probably because they appear to have been attacked by plungers). Christine Baranski is embarrassingly over-the-top while everyone else is merely buoyant, and as the town mayor, Jeffrey Tambor plays Jeffrey Tambor playing Jeffrey Tambor, which obviously doesn't really fit.
Up until seeing Ron Howard's version last year, I'd never really fallen for the Grinch's abrupt change of heart at the story's conclusion. Now I can say at least it's relatively plausible. Still, something is missing. It certainly isn't the lovable dog Max, because he's definitely included in this adaptation. Perhaps the fact that, here, Max upstages all of the live actors. Yes, I believe this could make for a good starting point.
