Hey folks, Harry here with that hardened con... that Grinch of a pin-striped type... A man that ordered men killed on Valentine's day... What very few of you know... is Capone is an actual relative of the Grinch's.... Oh yes... The Grinch was ferreted away from the hospital... dropped in a vat of Acme chemicals and then shrunk by radioactive mist till his infant green body fell into a snowflake and delivered to the doorstep of a who.... while his twin brother lay safely in the other cradle.... knowing he'd elimated... Problem #1.... Well, let's take a look at the evil one's thoughts on The Grinch....
Hey, Harry. Capone in Chicago here. I just got my plane tickets to Austin in the mail today for Butt-Numb-a-Thon 2, but I can't decide whether to wear my black suit or my black suit. And which violin case would go best with my black suit? Here's my review of THE GRINCH...
As hard as I try to walk into a film with an open mind, sometimes its impossible. Usually I walk into something with high expectation which are rarely met. And when I walk to something with low expectation, they are usually met in spades. I‚m hear to tell you that I walked into the live-action HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS fearing the worst; I couldn‚t have been more wrong. THE GRINCH absolutely, undeniably rocks, and Jim Carrey may be more of a comic genius than we ever realized.
Taking a page from Robin Williams‚ Genie in ALADDIN, Carrey‚s Grinch skillfully delivers broad humor to captivate the kiddies (this is a PG-rated film after all) and barely guised „adult‰ jokes for the grown ups. And I‚m having a hard time remembering the last time anyone was this good and communicative with so much face-obscuring make-up. And I have to give credit to the writers who, in order to expand the length of the film, came up with a back story for the title character. Not only is it great fun to see a pre-teen Grinch trying to make it in the land of Whos, but the background completely changes the dynamic between the Grinch and the people of Whoville. Because he looked so different than the other Whos, the Grinch was teased and mocked openly as a child. When an attempt to look more normal for a Christmas party goes ary, the Grinch goes into a self-imposed exile becoming the stuff of legend and nightmare for Whoville‚s children.
That is until Little Cindy Lou Who (Taylor Momsen) decides that Christmas is a time of forgiveness and inclusion. She climbs to the mountain lair of the Grinch and invites him to attend the town‚s Christmas festivities, which is completely devoid of any religious connections (in case you care about such things). The Grinch begrudgingly accepts the invitation, but not surprisingly wreck havoc on the town after the Mayor (Jeffrey Tambor) mocks him as he did when the Grinch was a child. Bent on further revenge, the Grinch conducts his now-legendary journey through Whoville on Christmas Eve, stealing every present, scrap of food, and decoration in every home in Whoville. The entire movie is narrated lovingly by Anthony Hopkins.
This film is a cartoon come to life: the absolutely flawless make-up, the production design (it‚s clear that every single thing you see on the screen, down to a wavy pencil, was created especially for this movie), the curly computer-generated clouds and landscapes, the special effects (it turns out you CAN ride a jack hammer like a pogo stick!), everything is perfect. But none of this would have mattered without Carrey‚s performance. Carrey is stuck in overdrive for the whole movie. Because of his elaborate make-up, he‚s unrecognizable and his acting is limited to using his mouth and eyes (and , or course, his overly flexible body). You can‚t take your eyes off his face. His mouth twists like an excited snake. His hairy hands move like an orchestra conductor on speed. His eyes are at one minute squinty and deceitful, then they practically pop out from his skull in a rage. You may think you‚ve seen Carrey do this before in THE MASK, but this goes way beyond that movie. THE MA! SK! featured a comedian in weird make-up; THE GRINCH features Carrey, the comic actor.
My ONLY complaint is that the end of the film feels a little stretched out, and some of the supporting characters, especially Christine Baranski as Martha, the only woman who carries a torch for the Grinch, seemed unnecessary. Although seeing her with a machine-gun-like device used to mount Christmas lights at 30 rounds per second was pretty cool. I caught myself on several occasions while watch THE GRINCH with my mouth agape with amazement, and I couldn‚t wait for the next scene to begin so I could see what new treasures awaited. I realize that this review sounds like pure gushing, but I‚ve got much love for this movie. What a surprise and what a treat.
