I have a handful of Christmas movies that I watch religiously every Christmas. Of course, there’s “It’s A Wonderful Life,” “A Christmas Story” and “Elf.”
Last, but certainly not least is 2000’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” starring Jim Carrey. I first saw the film in a small movie theater in Clearfield. I remember not having very high hopes for the film. Truth be told, I was not a big Carrey fan. I fully expected him to ruin one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books.
Boy, was I wrong.
“How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is a classic. Carrey made the Grinch his own. I have watched it so many times — with my kids and without — that I can pretty much recite lines from the script verbatim. I also do a pretty good Grinch voice, which delighted my kids when they were little. Now, they just think it’s weird.
From start to finish, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is just about perfect. The film starts with a look at Whoville. We quickly learn that the Whos enjoy celebrating Christmas. Whoville is filled with enthusiastic shoppers. It takes several minutes before we see the Grinch. He resides at the top of Mount Crumpit, away from the rest of the Whos.
The Grinch makes a trip to Whoville, where he meets 6-year-old Cindy Lou Who, who believes everyone is missing the point about Christmas by focusing too much on the gifts and festivities and too little on the personal relationships. She encounters the Grinch at the post office, where he pulls her from a package-sorting machine. She thanks the Grinch for “saving her,” which really curls his green fur.
He tells her that she wasn’t “properly packaged” and begins to put her in Christmas wrap — bow and all.
Keep in mind that “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is based on a 1957 children’s book that can be read in about five minutes. Making it a full-length film was certainly a challenge, but director Ron Howard really pulls it off nicely.
There are characters not mentioned in the picture book. When Cindy nominates the Grinch to be the town’s “Holiday Cheermeister,” mayor Augustus MayWho (“Arrested Development’s” Jeffrey Tambor) takes exception. It turns out that MayWho and the Grinch have a checkered past, having gone to elementary school together, where the Grinch was bullied. We also learn that the Grinch had a huge crush on Martha May Whovier (Christine Baranski), crafting her a homemade Christmas gift before things turned sour.
While the supporting cast is great, it’s truly Carrey’s show. In the “Grinch’s lair,” there is a lot of time when he is on screen alone. It’s during these scenes that Carrey truly shines. He delivers some brilliant one-liners, and Howard later revealed that a lot of those lines were ad-libbed by Carrey, including a scene where he mimmicks Howard himself.
Back to the plot.
MayWho ruins the Grinch’s turn as Holiday Cheermeister by giving him an electric razor as a present. The razor reminds the Grinch of being bullied in grade school, and the Grinch burns down the Whos’ Christmas tree before returning home to Mount Crumpit, where he hatches his plan to steal Christmas.
It’s in the film’s final 30 minutes or so that it really starts to resemble the book and cartoon we all love. Again, Carrey is brilliant in the homestretch and he puts a nice bow on things as the movie crosses the finish line on Christmas Day.
“How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is one of my top five Christmas films of all-time. If you don’t like it, well then, you’re just a mean one. It’s the perfect Saturday afternoon flick to watch with the kids while sipping hot chocolate or wrapping gifts. It’s rated PG for some cartoon violence and a couple of off-color jokes. It’s available on most platforms, including Xfinity OnDemand, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play and Amazon Prime.
Chris Morelli is the managing editor of The Centre County Gazette.
