Alright folks the following is a pretty darn negative look at the upcoming HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS script by a fella calling himself.... 'A Friend'. Now I have heard from this spy before and his info has always panned out (factually, though I have no opinion basis' to go on until this one). HOWEVER, that being said he admits that he has trouble reading and interpreting scripts. And on a film like this which exists in the surrealistic universe of Dr Seuss, and is such a dynamic visually compelling universe (if it's done right) that it's hard to judge on this. That being said... We don't know what draft or how recent this is. Is this the final draft or the first one? I don't know. But this was 'A DRAFT' but perhaps not 'THE DRAFT'. As a look at 'THIS DRAFT' it does say somethings that concern me. I have always disliked overexplanations of plots. One of the beautiful aspects of Dr Seuss' stories were their simplicity. The Grinch was a grinch because he was a grinch. His heart's as black as coal, because.. it is. A similar tact was taken recently with INSPECTOR GADGET where they tried to exam each and every sub-minutae motivation for his character and it just fell apart. That being said though... I trust Ron Howard as a filmmaker, and with very few exceptions his instincts are right on. The word I've had on the Grinch make up and the Who's makeup is spectacular... So... We'll have to sit down and hope this is an early draft and pray whatever draft they do have they deliver dead on perfect, cause Dr Seuss deserves nothing less than perfection.

Hey Harry,

Ya Grinched! I caught the smidgen of info on the Grinch set on your page today - well, if you are in the market for Grinch info...... I love the creative reviews that people send in - but time is a precious commodity and writing creative eloquent reviews and reports is not my forte or priority. So, um, I will get to the point. Warning - this is my opinion and my interpretation of the script - and in all honesty and in defense of this script, I always have trouble reading and interpreting scripts....I need to see the movie/finished project - not the blueprint. However, I think it's safe to say, I can't be too far off on this one. So here goes..... I read a copy of the script, recent draft. Set your expectations low my friends. I will give this the triple T - Tried True Trite. You get your standard candy ass character arcs, dynamics, and story complications, bla bla bla. What you get is nothing new. A rehash of the original w/ a new backstory/subplot. This is not as much of a review as it is a consumer warning and a call for a renovation of Hollywood and their products and hack writers. It¹s just hard to imagine that anybody put any serious degree of work and imagination into this script. Or is it the executive tampering that is the true source of the promblem - too many.....fingers....in the pie? It's like Hollywood has reverted back to the melodrama of the 40's - pre neo realism and pre new wave days. Not out of styles sake - but rather out of unoriginality. Ultra cliched characters - ultra over structured scripts. The fear in this town to do anything new and different is at an all time high. The only products you get most of the time from the big studios - and many independents - is the same old same old. A rut, a standard, a photocopy w/ a twist and a logline. So you want the goods, here it is..........

SPOILER WARNING

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My Warning: If you care about the movie and have any self control - turn back now. You are responsible for what you see.

The focus is Mary Lou Who and the Grinch. They injected the Grinch w/ an amazing new back story - the misunderstood high school rebel. Told through periodic flashbacks - the Grinch was raised by two single ladies. He was harassed by a goody goody in grade school - has a crush on whatever her name who. High school - more of the same - the girl he has a crush on is going out w/ this goody goody(think two faced Ned Flanders) punk and the Grinch is the rebel w/ a heart. He captures the interest of whatever her name is but the goody goody that everybody loves(but only the Grinch knows his true side) gets jealous and gets revenge - Grinch embarrassed - becomes cold and withdrawn....becomes the grinch. Has anybody seen that before? How original! Back to the present - Mary Lou Who - I may be getting the names mixed up - is a misunderstood little girl....so she can relate to the Grinch - reaches out to him - he's "funny mean" - he plays pranks on the town and her(Jim Carrey being Jim Carrey - I'm sure it will be old and funny). He has another go at society - the goody goody is now the mayor - and as they say - high school history.....repeats itself - the Grinch steals Christmas - you know the rest. The only thing new here is the Mayor and the love interest - the seed of which was planted in high school.

Lame characters - the sweet little puppy that acts as the Grinches conscience - is naturally present but w/ amped up cuteness....to a factor of 10 squared. Mary Lou Who's dingy wacky father - a chump that can't stand up for himself or daughter.. - typical screwball arc - he gets a pair. Her brothers - two little 2 dimensional comic relief screwball who¹s.....like....all the other who¹s - their gimmick - that¹s all any of the characters have are gimmicks - is that they have to one up each other all the time. Her mom - Saturday Night Live chick doing her SNL usual - a character that is good for a skit - not a feature.

SPOILERS OVER

Had it's funny moments. I have no doubt that the music, art direction, special effects - technical side will dazzle the eye - but that is all you will get. Eye candy - decorative show. I'll call this a big Christmas decoration - a beautiful old decoration pulled out of a dusty box from your basement and renovated w/ some new x-mas lights. No need to renovate or remake - just clean up. They may touch/pluck the emotional "lets be thankful" Christmas chords at the end.....but that is all. Story wise - narratively speaking - only the same old story is delivered w/ the standard subplot/backstory injection. Reading this only made me want to see the original again. The new live action Jim Carrey fest - will most likely only be good as an effects reel. 50 years from now the original will be the one that is remembered - it's simple - original - and just plain awesome.

Ya Grinched! I admit - I¹m coming off as a Grinch but this script put me in the mood. The only people getting Grinched are you future viewers.

A Friend