Dr. Seuss, rest his onomatopoetic soul, can't be happy about this.
"Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas," with an out-of-control Jim Carrey as that nasty creature so mean to all those Whos down in Whoville, misfires on nearly every possible level. But nowhere does director Ron Howard's take on this most magic of magical tales err more egregiously than in its decision to make those darling little Whos the real heavies.
In the original story, written by Ted Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) in 1957 and made into a perfectly wonderful 20-minute cartoon in 1966, the Grinch is this mean old guy who lives atop a mountain, scowling at all the happy Whos in the town below. Determined to spread his unhappiness, he steals all the Whos' Christmas trappings one Christmas Eve, certain that will ruin the holiday for them. Which, of course, it doesn't, since Christmas is about far more than just material things.
Leave it to Howard and company to provide the Grinch's long-lost back-story. It seems the poor Grinch is actually a lapsed Who, teased unmercifully as a child; that the Whos are a bunch of crass, over-commercialized narcissists for whom Christmas is just another excuse to show off; and that having Christmas stolen right out from under their unsuspecting Who noses serves them right.
The film starts off as though it might retain the magical spirit of the source story, as snowflakes gently tumble from the sky. But that promise lasts little longer than the opening credits. We're quickly introduced to a Whoville resembling a Christmas theme park, complete with overworked postal workers, rabid shoppers fighting over their spot in the gift-wrap line, garish lighting displays and oily politicians mining Christmas cheer for votes.
Howard and screenwriters Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman ("Who Framed Roger Rabbit") have taken Dr. Seuss' cute little Whos and turned them into obnoxious twits. Nice job, guys.
The first half of the film is pretty much new; Dr. Seuss' wonderful little book doesn't contain enough material for a two-hour film. So we find out how the Grinch became so grinchy (too much teasing), and how things would have turned out better if only the young Grinch hadn't been embarrassed in front of the little Who girl he loved.
We're given an extensive tour of the Grinch's home atop Mount Crumpit, a horrid little place filled with garbage, broken glass and toxic chemicals.
