How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

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Let's rewind about 25 years, to when the calendar turned over to 2000, and my hopes were high for various technologies that could lend themselves to movies I could look forward to. While films like 'The Matrix' were showing off things like bullet time, and 'Star Wars' was all the rage about CG, there was still something to be said, even then, about practical effects holding up in a big way. One of the finer examples of a memorable trailer that showed off the practical with a solid blend of CG was for 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas.'

I was mind-blown when I saw the one and only Jim Carrey in his Grinch getup. Much like it was with 'Polar Express' a few years down the line, the "creepy/uncanny valley" look to everything didn't affect me at the time. It looked impressive, and Carrey's brilliantly rubbery face would suit the somewhat over-the-top character. We eventually saw it as a family; we all somewhat enjoyed it, but at the time, I loved it. It may not have been perfect, but I really appreciated the world Ron Howard's vision brought to life, and, of course, Carrey's fantastic performance.

As time has ticked away, however, the film has gotten a bad rap from critics and audiences alike. While I may not fully agree with a lot of these criticisms, there are many that I understand, and even fully agree with at this point, such as the unnecessary kissing of a dog's butt hole, thrown in to be a bit of gross toilet humour; a fine example of how toilet humour can fail very hard. Still, I find the film fine for what it is, and I'm not about to sit here tearing it apart in some sad effort to prove to its fans that it sucks. For my tastes, there are better and worse, but through the right lens, this can still be a fun time.

Plot-wise, it's basically everything the original version tells, with a bunch more added to make it a feature film. The Grinch (Carrey) is a green, solitary monster of sorts who lives atop Mount Crumpit, avoiding the Whos of Whoville; the Whos are human-like creatures from the original author Dr. Seuss' imagination. While the Whos irritate the Grinch at any given time, what really drives him crazy is their love of Christmas, which the Grinch hates with the flaming passion of a thousand suns. Thus, along with his adorable dog, Max (Kelley), he devises a plan to snap the Whos out of their annoying Christmas spirit.

Following through with his plan, the Grinch successfully steals everything material from the Whos, including trees, decorations, gifts, food, the works. As cruel as it all sounds, however, spoiler alert, the moral amounts to the Whos celebrating Christmas anyway, because Christmas is something that lies within our hearts, and not just a matter of material possessions and hardcore commercialism. Of course, it even changes the Grinch's mind about things: his heart grows three sizes that day, he returns everything, and he's welcomed into Whoville as one of their own. All in all, it's a Christmas classic that dates back to the 1957 book.

This live-action movie version of the 'Grinch' tale adds a little more by giving us a glimpse into his origin, with the matter of a broken heart, which is pretty cliché and takes away from the idea that he's really just a big grouch. On the other hand, you get a bit more of Cindy Lou Who (Taylor Momsen), who gets a little more fleshed out as someone with a desire to be good and warmhearted, even to creatures like the Grinch. Of course, other leads add to the story as well, with a handful of decent actors, including Bill Irwin, Christine Baranski, Jeffrey Tambor, Molly Shannon, and Clint Howard, each bringing their own qualities to the screen.

This film is far from the perfect holiday treat, and, by my own personal taste, you can get everything you need from this story in the animated short, which is a simple 26-minute watch and remains a classic, while this has fallen by the wayside for many people. However, it's all a matter of taste, and I can't blame anyone for enjoying the full movie here, as there are still several things I love about it, not the least of which is Carrey giving it his all and the fantasy environment created for the film. All in all, it's not among my favourites, but if it's on while channel-surfing, I'll sit and enjoy it.

3/5

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