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    		•

    FILMS

    How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
  • Starring Jim Carrey, Taylor Momsen, Jeffrey Tambor, Christine Baranski, Bill Irwin, Molly Shannon, Clint Howard

  • Directed by Ron Howard

    • I'll be up-front: I'm a Ron Howard fan. I like watching interviews with him because he seems like a very nice guy. Down to Earth. Approachable. Maybe it's some of the "gee-whiz" factor left over from his days as Opie Taylor or Richie Cunningham. I don't know. But I like the guy. Of course, that alone is not enough to go see his movies. But it is enough to be interested to see his pay attention to every movie he directs.

    I believe that Howard is a decent actor and I've enjoyed some of his movies (mostly American Graffiti and The Shootist), but I much rather prefer films he directs (Beautiful Mind, Ransom, Apollo 13, Far and Away, Backdraft, Parenthood, Willow, Gung Ho, Cocoon, Splash). I've heard reviewers rail against Howard for making "sappy, feel-good" films that too obviously tug at the audience's heartstrings. To this, I have to disagree. I think he makes films that have a very human aspect to them. Perhaps his critics don't have a heart, or perhaps they're like the Grinch himself, in that they have a heart, but it's two sizes too small.

    The story is significantly inflated from both the original Dr. Seuss narrative and the 1966 animated TV version. But this isn't such a bad thing. For one, it's necessary to make the film feature-length. And for another, the audience gets to see more details of Whoville than ever before. The gizmos and whizbangs, contraptions and devices.

    Jim Carrey performs better when the part he's playing requires restraint, such as in The Truman Show. In films like that he's actually playing a character, as opposed to starring in a movie that is nothing more than a opportunity for him to act like a big goof. Sometimes the Big Goof roles are funny, but more often than not they become tiresome. How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a little of both. There are moments when I forget that it's Jim Carrey in a Grinch suit, but there are also times when Carrey is doing his regular schtick that, quite frankly, gets old. The guy is a great actor. He's proved it before. I only wish he'd balance his comedy with some drama.

    I will openly admit that I was a more than a little biased when I first watched this movie. I watched it on DVD a year after it hit the theaters, and I recall Carrey doing publicity for the film the year before. Letterman, Leno, Conan, what have you. I almost remember how much money he was paid to play the Grinch—and it's absolutely disgusting to hear an actor who commands such a high salary bitch and complain on talk shows about the make-up and the lighting and this and that.

    Wah wah wah. Cry me a freakin' river, Jim. You get to make movies. You get paid a shitload of money to make movies. You make more money in a 15-week shoot than most people will make in their entire lives. Without paying taxes or spending a penny on anything. I'm talking cumulative, here. Do you know how many people would kill their own mother to be standing in your shoes, to have one ounce of your talent?

    Now I'm not totally insensitive. I understand that acting is hard work. It's difficult to repeat a line a hundred times, doing take after take, and yet still somehow manage to make it sound as if it's the first time you've said those words. I understand that it gets extremely hot under the lights, especially if you're wearing 20+ pounds of latex and make-up. Three to four hours in a make-up chair is a big pain in the butt. I understand. None of that sounds comfortable or easy or nice. It is difficult in it's own way—relative to making movies. I get it. It's hard, but it's a very different type of hard than, say, road construction or garbage hauling or government contracting.

    It really makes me sick when actors complain about how difficult being an actor is. Here's a little bit of advice for anyone who is, was, or will be a rich and famous actor: Don't bitch about your job. None of us out here in the real world have an ounce of sympathy for you. If you have an interesting story about the make-up and behind-the-scenes stuff, go ahead and tell us. We love that sort of thing. But don't tell us about how difficult your life was during the shoot. It's considered bad form.

    Let me get down off of my soap-box now. There, that's better.

    Having said all of that, this is a good movie. Rich scenes, delicate acting, and a good Christmasy message. Any hang-ups are entirely mine, and have nothing to do with the film itself.