Le Grincheux

Howard's 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' is a delightful family flick that both adults and children can enjoy (mostly with each other). It is basically an adaptation of the famous children's books and what the audience gets is a pleasant Christmas treat. Price's screenplay is brilliant as he cleverly manages to include some adult humour.

The world of Whoville is beautifully constructed and created, full of colour, life, energy and spirit. The vivacious characters are full of positive energy and while it is over the top, it is all done within the context and none of it appears out of place. The CGI team and makeup crew deserve full credit for making the characters and settings so lifelike, bringing out a lot of detail and appearing authentic. The set designs are stunning and the cinematography is just as energetic as the characters.

Child actress Taylor Momsen is absolutely. The cute dog also turns in a fine performance. Jeffrey Tambor, a very sexy Christine Baranski, Bill Irwin and Molly Shannon are first rate. However, what would 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' be without Jim Carrey? Carrey is simply fantastic as he immerses himself entirely into the character. It's a role that has Jim Carrey written all over it. The actor has immortalized the Grinch on screen.

The movie itself is not an exact 100% adaptation of the book as there are a few changes. The romance between the Grinch and Martha May could have been better developed. Other than the actors mentioned above, the rest of the cast hardly have anything to do than make fleeting appearances. Yet, 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' is a charming little Christmas family film that is dazzling to look at and hugely enjoyable with the whole family.

The Grinch hates Christmas, then steals it!

When this first came out I liked the original version much more, but as time goes on I'm finding myself preferring this version more and more. Perhaps it's because Jim Carey's portrayal is more relatable, or perhaps I'm more impressed with the visuals and production value than I once was, or maybe I just understand the adult jokes more. Whatever the reason, this is a fantastic adaptation.

What stands out above all is Jim Carey's performance, followed by the sets and costumes. It is an unforgettable experience that might never be replicated again.

While kids may prefer the original, certainly this will be all the adults most preferred version of the Grinch.

Big budget remake of the classic cartoon about a creature (Jim Carrey) intent on stealing Christmas.

I had rather low expectations for this one... not sure why, as it turned out to be quite good. I just wanted to add a few thoughts here.

First of all, Taylor Momsen nailed the Cindy Lou Who part. She has gone on to bigger, better things ("Gossip Girl") and good for her. Second, Ron Howard nailed the look of a Seussian world. The faces, the architecture, it all seems so right and I think the good doctor would have approved. I heard that Tim Burton was approached to direct, and I think he would have done a fine job, but how do you beat this?

And last, Jim Carrey. Wow. He has had some good and bad career decisions, and this has to be among his best. The physical comedy, the improvised jokes, it was like the role he was born to play. The other choices were Jack Nicholson and Eddie Murphy. Nicholson could possibly have done it ten years earlier, but did he have that range of motion in 2000? And Eddie Murphy? Maybe, maybe not. This was a Carrey role inside and out.

In the land of Whoville everyone loves Christmas and count down the whole year until that wonderful time. However just outside Whoville lives the Grinch, a green hairy twisted creature that hates, and always has hated, Christmas and was rejected by the Who's as a child. A young girl from Whoville sets out to befriend the Grinch and help him find his love of Christmas but, when it goes wrong early on, the Grinch becomes even more rotten and plans to ruin it for everyone.

I have never read the book or seen the original animated version of this story, but I do enjoy a bit of Dr Seuss and was worried about how such imagination would be filled out on the screen. The film actually manages it very well and the whole film has the look of the books, even if it lacks soul at times. The plot is stretched out to the running time and could have easily been shorter and punchier, but at heart it is a good little moral that is good from Christmas time.

However, aside from the look of the film, the main reason that the film works is Jim Carrey. I cannot think of another actor who could have pulled off this role as well as he did. He is manic and really funny although I imagine that if you dislike him and his antics that you'd hate the film totally. I'm on the fence about him but I did enjoy him here. Momsen is OK but really just a `cute kid' and, while the support cast has quite a few famous faces, they don't make much of an impact under the makeup and the film is left to Carrey to save it - which he happily does.

Overall this film is a little too long and padded out, but while Carrey is onscreen it seems to go pretty fast due to his hyper acting and comedy antics. However, it's Christmas and it has a nice message while not totally giving in to syrupy sentiment (thanks again to manic Carrey) and it's just perfect for kids and adults at Christmas time.

Well, I finally broke down and went to see it. I was hesitant after reading all the pans here. Egad! It was a great movie! You can't compare it to the "original" any more than you can compare "Scrooge" to the eternal Dickens classic. It has a life of its own. Jim Carrey was amazing. How he can deliver so many feelings and emotions behind 10 pounds of latex is fantastic. Some of his scenes (obviously impromptu) were so funny I nearly wet myself. The sets were great and not nearly as over-blown as I had expected. As for the "prequel" portion, well, it was only so-so. The best part of the whole show is when they sing the "Ah hoo torres" song at the end which has ALWAYS been my most favorite Christmas song ever.

I recommend the movie highly to kids and adults. As for the negative comments on imdb.com I gotta say..."get over it, ya big bunch of grinches!!!!!"