Man, I was REALLY looking forward to this movie.
I remember liking the books by Dr. Seuss (his real name was Theodore Seuss Geisel). My favorite was "Green Eggs and Ham." Sam I Am was a hell of a salesman, huh? Yeah, that book kicks ass. On my last birthday (March 28, for those of you who wanna buy me a present... a gift certificate for Best Buy is perfect), a friend of mine bought me a Dr. Seuss book called "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" It's a beautiful, motivational story that means a lot more to me as an adult than it would if I was a child. Or maybe I'm wrong. Children can be pretty insightful.
Anyway...
This movie is based on the children's book by Dr. Seuss. Actually, it's probably best to say that it's based on the animated special that airs every year at around Christmas, and that animated special is based on the children's book. Either way, this movie is an expanded version of both of them. Before I saw this movie, I wondered if they could pull it off, if they could do a good job of expanding on such a great story. Well they did.
This movie may not be for everybody, and some parts may be too scary for much younger viewers, but in general, this is a really good movie. But unfortunately, it's a bit of a disappointment, too. My hopes were up way too high. Please don't misunderstand me, I like this movie a lot, it's just that as high as my hopes were, there's no way that those expectations coulda been met. Sorta like with the most recent "Star Wars" movie, ya know?
"How the Grinch Stole Christmas" is an amazing visual experience. The make-up, the production design, the camera work, the special effects... it's all breathtaking. But what makes this movie really special is Jim Carrey. Although it won't happen, I'd love to see Jim Carrey get an Oscar nomination for his performance in this movie. He's absolutely sensational. Every moment that he's onscreen, he's fantastic. In a way, I think it sucks that he's completely unrecognizable when he's giving one of the best performances I've ever seen him give. From what I read, though, it was a lifelong dream of his to play The Grinch, so I guess he's happy. And he should be really proud of this performance.
Another great performance in this movie is by a little girl named Taylor Momsen. She plays cute little "Cindy Lou-Who." I've never seen this girl before, I just know that her only other movie role was in a movie I never heard of called "The Prophet's Game." Despite Jim Carrey's awesome, overpowering performance, this little girl holds her own as the Grinch's arch nemesis of sorts.
"How the Grinch Stole Christmas" was directed by Ron Howard, and though I like his work as a director a lot, he wouldn't have been my first choice as director for this movie. But as it turns out, Ron Howard did a wonderful job. Some people may think that he made this movie a little too dark for children, but I disagree. Besides, I think kids sometimes like that kinda thing. Look at the success of "The Nightmare Before Christmas." As for who wrote this movie, well, to say the least, I'm a bit surprised. The writers were Jeffrey Price & Peter S. Seaman. Together they helped write "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," "Doc Hollywood," and the horrible "Wild Wild West." Weird, right? The people who wrote "Wild Wild West" wrote this movie!
I like this
movie a lot, but yeah, unfortunately, my hopes were way too high, so there's
a little disappointment. Maybe I should see it again. Maybe if I see it
again, I'll end up thinking it's the best Christmas movie ever. I doubt
it, though. Right now, my personal fave is "A Christmas Story,"
and I gotta tellya, that's a tough one to beat. So go see "How the
Grinch Stole Christmas," but try not to walk in expecting the greatest
movie ever.
Scale of 1-10: 8