Our wee house is far more festively snug as I take in 2000’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas from director Ron Howard (Rush). This is a multi-coloured, loony Christmas Cracker of a film with Jim Carrey (I Love You Phillip Morris) cranking his madcap physical comedy up as far as it can go, in full, bright green furry prosthetics, no less. This one got mixed reviews at the time but also made boatloads of money and remains one of the highest grossing Christmas films of all time.
It’s a bold, brash fusion of colourful jolliness and weird, sour creepiness - that’s Carrey in a nutshell. The film is a fun showcase of Carrey’s manic acting talents with the funnyman lurching from mischievous, sarcastic, wisecracking prankster to frightening, bellowing psycho at the drop of a hat. I can see how younger children might be creeped out by this, with plenty of scenes of the Grinch maniacally conversing with himself like he’s got some sort of split personality. Me? I love it, finding it to be non-stop entertaining, a film where you can see all of the big budget right up there on the screen in lavish production design and dazzling special effects.
Carrey’s rubbery face and hyperactive style are so well suited to this that it’s impossible to picture anybody else in the role, even if a lot of his free-flowing, likely ad-libbed rants are so full of references that many of them will likely go over the heads of little ones. My favourite bit is, when posing as Santa and being quizzed on the meaning of Christmas, the Grinch breaks character to roar “Vengeance!!!” It’s brilliantly bonkers.
Howard, normally a fairly reserved filmmaker, goes all-out with crazy, stylised visual mayhem. It’s’s a mad, neon, sugar-coated headache of a film but totally good fun with a lovely message about the ‘true spirit’ of Christmas.
The prosthetic makeup for the citizens of the mystical “Whoville” is impressive, but proper creepy as well. The Whos are starting to go overboard with the consumerist mass consumption side of yuletide, inadvertently dumping all their garbage down a waste pipe that leads right to the home of The Grinch up at the shadowy, foreboding Mount Crumpit. The big, pot-bellied green grump has made his peace with being a hermit, having turned his back on the ridiculously perky villagers of Whoville a long time ago, following some childhood bullying. Grinch lives a solitary life with only canine compadre Max for company and hates Christmas, mainly just because the Whovians love it so much. Provoked by some nosey, douchey, jock-like Who teens, he stomps down the mountain to have some anarchic, anti-Christmas fun.
There, he meets cute little Cindy Lou Who (Taylor Momsen, Underdog) who, despite his attempts to frighten her, sees through his grumpy veneer to recognise a sad, wounded heart behind all the emerald fuzz. Her efforts to get the town to accept Grinch again backfire spectacularly, pissing him right off and sending him on an entertaining technicolour rampage.
I saw this one when it came out but, call me crazy, this time I read it as an analogy for terrorism, racism and how different cultures can be suspicious, even hateful of anyone who doesn't agree with their worldview. Of course, the Grinch despises Christmas but takes his hatred too far, trying to ruin the season for everyone and - yes - even blow it all up! Howard earns bonus points for giving Grinch a very cool, knowing, action hero-esque, jumping-away-from-an-explosion shot.
Mayor Maywho (Jeffrey Tambor, Tangled) recognises the green grump as a rival and a threat but goes too far the other way, effectively declaring war on him, rather than maybe taking a few moments to try and figure out why this dude's so angry with them in the first place. Isn't this how it always goes with our war-hungry politicians? Faced with foreigners that we fear and who don't worship our guy or follow our traditions, they seem all too eager to declare war and haven't noticed, after centuries of this stuff, that it doesn't solve jack.
Cindy Lou is the admirable, pure-hearted ambassador, recognising the strengths and weaknesses of both sides' arguments and trying to broker the peace. The world sure could do with a few more Cindy Lous.
I enjoy that the film works really hard to make us understand, sympathise with and maybe even like The Grinch, so that his actions seem a little less awful. It also helps that it features superb, silky narration from Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs), who sounds born to read Dr Seuss's weirdly wonderful prose.
Looking back, it seems like some critics took issue with the fact that this film is a whole hour longer than the original 1966 cartoon TV movie special but I appreciate all the extra background stuff we get about The Grinch's childhood and his tragic lost romance with the fabulous Christine Baranski (The Birdcage)'s Martha May Whovier. Also, the cartoon didn't have action sequences to match the bits where Grinch flies through the air on a turbo-sled or where he whizzes through a network of pipes like a crazy theme park ride. These are worthwhile, effective, bid budget spectacle - the reason people go to the movies. What's not to love? This is top drawer, unruly festive fun.
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