For the third week in a row, it has held the number one position in the box office and has grossed over $172,000,000. For Jim Carrey, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, is proving to be the role of a lifetime.
"It wasn't Christmas growing up without the reading of the book and watching the cartoon. When the movie project came up, I realized that it was a dream come true even though I never had fantasized about it before," said Carrey in an article provided by Universal Studios.
Carrey portrays the role of the Grinch in his cave dwelling home atop Mount Crumpit, just north of the fantasy town of Whoville, located in a snowflake. The residents of Whoville, the Whos, are busy making their last-minute Christmas preparations for the impending holiday.
Many are engaged in last-minute shopping or decorating, but there is one tiny Who that can not get in the Christmas spirit, Cindy Lou Who, played by Taylor Momsen. She is wondering where the true spirit of the holiday has gone, without the help of her parents, Lou and Betty Lou Who, played by Bill Irwin and Molly Shannon, who are immersed in the holiday rush. Cindy Lou goes looking for the meaning and finds the Grinch.
Cindy Lou asks questions to unearth the reasons why the Grinch has left, but is blocked at every turn by the mayor of Whoville, Mayor May Who, played by Jeffrey Tambor. With the help of a few old women who once raised the Grinch and his lost love, Martha May Whovier, played by Christine Baranski, she is able to find the answers.
With those answers she attempts to bring back the true meaning of Christmas to Whoville and in part helps the Grinch find a missing piece to his soul.
The great success of this film weighs solely on the acting ability and comic genius of Carrey. If it were not for him, who knows how this film might have turned out. One might think this role was specially designed for him since his stellar performance of an animated character in The Mask.
The supporting roles of Tambor and Baranski are great additions to Carrey, but cannot compare to his capabilities. Any actors could have played the supporting roles and the film would still have been a great success. However, none can argue with the cuteness and adorableness of Momsen.
Carrey may have been a powerhouse in this film, but his great portrayal of the Grinch would not have been possible without the amazing costuming and sets. Some may say that it was a bit ostentatious or over the top compared to the 1966 cartoon. However, they are essential to making the audience feel as if they are in a fantasyland.
To capture the liveliness of the holiday, the fantasy of Whoville and the people Who live there, the sets create the magic of Dr. Seuss and are reminiscent of Munchkinland. Did anyone ever think that Munchkinland was over the top? Don't think so.
In short, the costuming, the makeup and the sets were fabulous, appropriate and perfect for this adaptation of the ageless story.
Dr. Seuss' poem, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," was first published in 1957 and then adapted into a TV special in 1966 by Chuck Jones. Ron Howard's 2000 version of the classic Christmas tale stays true to the story, but manages to turn a 26-minute cartoon into a full-blown 105-minute motion picture.
This film is the best Christmas film I have seen in a long, long time. It is perfect for all ages. For everyone who is trying to look past the commercialism and exploitation of a once sacred holiday, this film is for them. If your heart is two sizes too small like the Grinch, by the end of this movie it will be bursting.
