The Grinch Died This Year

The Grinch Died This Year
by Carl S. Ey

Under the auspice of Christmas spirit, I ventured into the theaters Friday to relive some of my childhood memories. How the Grinch Stole Christmas on the "big screen" promised to prepare my demeanor for the holiday season. After all this movie was practically written for Jim Carrey and watching one of my favorite animations come to life under director, Ron Howard, could only lead to success.

Unfortunately, it didn't. Ron, Jim and the entire cast of How the Grinch Stole Christmas did a terrible job of converting this Dr. Seuss cartoon into a movie.

Carrey covered in a hairy green costume should have stolen the show and he does dominate the movie but his character is predictable, boring and becomes overbearing. As the hard - hearted Grinch, he will eventually have his heart grow in size but developing his transformation for 105 minutes was tedious and was not worth the price of my ticket. I kept wishing that someone would spike my soda.

The heart of this movie should have concentrated less on the story - we all know the story - and how the filmmaking industry could better the cartoon version. The majority of the movie was shot at Universal Studios on a 30,000 square foot lot designed as the city of Whoville.

However, there is little ingenuity in the development of this city or the cave that houses the Grinch. Hollywood has overdeveloped special effects in movies such as Matrix, The Gladiator, Private Ryan and The Nutty Professor. Yet, there is nothing exciting about this Dr. Seuss adaptation to the theater that expounds on the imaginations of those of us that grew up rooting against the Grinch every Christmas. After all, he threatened Santa, the stockings over the fireplace and Christmas spirit in general. When this cartoon was over, there was vindication for millions of kids in this country that Christmas was still coming and that the spirit of the season could conquer all. The only thing this "flick" conquered was insomnia.

Ron Howard and Universal Studios could have done so much more. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory filmed in the 70's did more to broaden the imagination.

Furthermore, screenwriters Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman decided to add a chapter to Seuss' classic story. They offered the reason that the Grinch was outcast by the citizens of Whoville. For about 15 minutes, viewers are subject to their version of why the Grinch decides to move into the cave atop Whoville. The bottom line is that anyone that is green and hairy would probably have a very difficult time in any society to include a society in which the citizens all have some form of nasal deformation. Let's face it, neither the Incredible Hulk nor the Werewolf have ever been cast as positive contributors to any society. Why would the Grinch, a combination of both of them, be any different? He needs a good skin cream and an electrolysis specialist.

Although I would recommend against seeing this movie in the theater, on video or even when it makes its television network debut, all was not lost. Taylor Momsen did a very nice job as Cindy Lou Who. She seems to have captured the essence of goodness represented by her character. She is cute, pretty and believable. Kudos to Momsen but she isn't enough to recommend this movie. Besides, her nose is the only normal one in the movie, which is explained by the fact that she has yet to mature into a Whoville woman but more realistically comes down to not being able to sit this seven-year-old down long enough to attach some version of bozo's schnozz onto her face.

However, the best acting job comes from Max, the Grinch's faithful companion, who happens to be a dog. Max dances, drives a sleigh, and remains loyal throughout the movie to his master. If he had brought the Grinch a newspaper, he would have been the perfect Whoville pound puppy. He is the only character in this movie that should be considered by the Academy for any award at all.

For years, Theodor Seuss Geisel refused to sell Hollywood any of his famous Dr. Seuss children's stories. Yet in 1966, he did allow the animated version to become a holiday television standard. In 1991, Geisel's widow gave permission to Imagine Entertainment to make this a film. She shouldn't have done it and hopefully, it will find its way, quickly, to the back of the video racks so that our children are never tempted to rent it. It would be a shame to see what future generations would turn into if they had this classic holiday epic ruined for them.

No matter how bored you get this holiday season, don't bother going to see this movie. The weather channel in Florida provides more entertainment.