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Overall Rating
  Awesome: 25.71%
Worth A Look: 33.14%
Average: 9.14%
Pretty Bad: 9.71%
Total Crap: 22.29%
11 reviews, 109 user ratings
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| How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) |
by Filmnet
"A strangely enjoyable experience, thanks mainly to Jim Carrey."
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I see the end credits for Ron Howard's Christmas film include those for "dermatologist" and "masseuse" -- testimony to the physical discomfort endured by performers encased in latex masks and body suits, like his star, Jim Carrey.As this film could be Jim Carrey's Hamlet -- to date -- I must rate it highly for his performance as the hairy green grouch, traumatised twice in connection with childhood Christmases, and consequently as mean as he is green with the approach of every Yuletide to Whoville.
Anthony Hopkins' narration introduces the fantasy world of Whoville, and sets up the premise: the Whos loved Christmas, but the Grinch did not. As the Whos (each with two big front teeth and a retroussé nose) make Christmas preparations, the Grinch makes forays from his mountaintop hideaway to carry out spoilsport activities like substituting jury duty notices and pink slips for the townspeople's Christmas mail.
To little Cindy Lou Who (Taylor Momsen), it doesn't seem right that anyone should be by himself at Christmas, and she aims to unite the Grinch with the Who community by nominating him as "Cheermeister", or leader of the town's Yuletide revels. But close contact with the Whos only reopens old wounds, and the Grinch starts on some real mayhem, to exact his revenge on those who made him so miserable.
As well as the dermatologist and masseuse, the credits also list three denture-makers (all those two front teeth, as well as Carrey's mouth full of variegated crockery), big hairdressing and makeup teams (with Rick Baker the special makeup designer, creating facial additions for Carrey which still allow him to use his face muscles), and a large propmaking team...for all those oddly-shaped things the funny-faced Whos use.
But, though the fantasy world may look intriguing (art direction by Lauren E. Polizzi and Dan Webster, costume design by Rita Ryack), the Whos somehow lack appeal -- the exceptions being Cindy Lou and the Grinch's old flame, Martha May Whovier (Christine Baranski, who already has the nose and needs only a little adjustment of the upper lip).
Along with this character quality, the film's main drawback is the persistent use of distracting camera tilt. Cinematographer Donald Peterman gives it the old Dutch tilt in nearly every shot, sometimes also rotating the camera through 90 deg. or more within a shot, to vertiginous effect (I would recommend leaving things like fairy floss until AFTER the movie).But Carrey's Grinch -- who looks a bit like Lee Marvin and sometimes sounds like Boris Karloff -- and who features in nearly every scene, is the star attraction of this piece, and lifts the movie to its superior rating.--Shane Lewis
 del.icio.us 
link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=1735&reviewer=169
originally posted: 12/10/00 18:49:18
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USA
17-Nov-2000 (PG)
UK
N/A
Australia
30-Nov-2000 (PG)
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