paulwigglesworth

This is an old school attempt at storytelling channeling the 1970s era of character driven movies like Serpico while adding a 1960s flair for inventive cinematography. The story is essentially nonsense pretending to be timely and relevant while the characters spiralling through bouts of personal and pseudo intellectual extremism are the real focus. The film presents extreme characters who are both foolish and admirable for believing in anything in an era where societal values and politics have trivialized previously serious aspects of the human experience. The film meanders and could have used more cutting but clearly it's a film that fell in love with character performances while forgetting the trivial plot. There's homages to Hitchcock (North by Northwest aspect of one character chasing while being chased), Spielberg (the car chasing scenes in the desert stir memories of the film Duel), Kubrick (Dr Stranglove's surreal political commentaries). The film stands apart from the mainstream and is a facsimile of greater movies but certainly isn't a classic - more of an oddball zinger with some mild attempt at social political commentary. I give the story a 7/10, the performances a 8/10 and the Cinematography a 9/10.

Yes this is a remake of the 80s film but it manages to be more thoughtful, poignant and more amusing and frankly less sad. I saw the original in theatres and people were screaming and storming out of the theatre as it hit a bit close to home for some. This version of marital discord is snappier in dialogue and does make real and relevant commentary on the rise of narcissism in society. Both characters live to work and attach too much value and happiness to their professional lives but Coleman's character becomes increasingly narcissistic as her star ascends while Cumberbatch's character is left searching for deeper meaning in life as his character falls from grace making his character's journey far more interesting. Both leads do a great job however I feel Coleman's role would have been better portrayed by an actor such as Michelle Dockery.

Everyone loves the original version with its music being a key feature. This version has a rousing, fun soundtrack that appeals to both young and old alike. Yes, there is hip hop and there are a few classic xmas tunes as well. The visuals are truly creative, vibrant and inventive. The background on why the Grinch is sad adds something special to the story and helps us appreciate his challenges and motivations. Some new characters like Fred the reindeer and the friendly neighbour portrayed by Keenan Thompson really put a smile on your face and the animations for Max running errands is pretty hilarious. The fact that the movie had a singer as narrator seemed like a missed opportunity to add the original classic song "He's a mean one..." Yes this song is absent from this movie...not sure why, maybe a licensing issue.

I liked the ending but it felt a little anti climatic and drawn out seemingly there filling time with lots of awkward pauses. It would be a true classic if they could add the classic music near the end. As it is, its an amusing reimagining of a classic that's much lighter than the live action Jim Carey version.