Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"THE GRINCH" is a new holiday classic!, November 22, 2000
The new film version of the classic tale "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" has gotten mixed reviews. I went in with my hopes down, not excited by the frenzied trailers and reading comments like "gross out humor" and "charmless"...In the week that it's been out, I've seen it twice and I'm going back a third time after Thanksgiving dinner... When all is said and done, "The Grinch" is a wonderful movie; true to the original while taking justified liberties and expanding it, and maybe providing it's own, new unique riches the book and the animated version don't have. This film has been quite unfairly lambasted and compared. I'm sure no one will argue that Charles Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" is more of a classic than "The Grinch," How many versions of THAT do we have? With how many variations and elaborations, from Bill Murry to Mr. MaGoo? Taken on it's own terms, "The Grinch" is a new holiday classic, hillarious and moving. Jim Carrey is magnificant; absolutely hillarious while always portraying the Grinch as a three-dimensional character, one who (believe it or not) is a grown child nursing a long buried wound. When it comes time to bring that wound to the surface and heal, it's a perfect and moving combination of Carrey, Ron Howard's direction and James Horner's score. Carrey, I think, deserves an Oscar nomination. Visually inventive, wonderfully acted, it is the best fantasy film in a long time. A Christmas movie that makes you laugh so hard so consistantly and then move you to tears by the end? Bah Humbug, critics and nay-sayers. A new classic for all ages, for all time.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Jim Carrey's Grinch Is Fun For All, The Tall & The Small!, November 24, 2001
Pretty much all of us know the classic Dr. Seuss story about the Grinch, a somewhat green meanie, who wants to stop Christmas from coming to his local neighbor's, the Who's. Ron Howard's film version starring rubber faceman Jim Carrey simply takes that story and adds a bit more to it (to fill the extra hour and twenty minutes of running time as opposed to the original cartoon version's 25 minutes). I for one love the backstory that was created. I always wondered why did the Grinch hate the Who's so much. What made him hate Christmas? These questions are answered quite well with some well imagined backstory of the Grinch as a child who actually grew up among the Who's, only to be ridiculed and made fun of for his strange appearence and unique behavior. It seems that the Green one became interested in a young girl that another boy liked (and who ultimately would later became the Mayor of Whoville). The film evens goes on to have Cindy Lou Who (who's given a bigger part in the film) question her family's values of what Christmas is really about...presents?...buying stuff?..is that's all it's about?..she wonders. It is she who realizes the good in the Grinch and crusades for him to be head chairmeister at one of the Who celebrations. I'm not sure what other people were really expecting, but this is pretty much what I thought the movie should and would be like. The sets and costumes are amazing..very Seussian! And Jim Carrey?...Well, I personally believe that Jim is great in everything he does and doesn't recieve enough credibilty by critics and certain moviegoers mainly because of where he came from (i.e. comedy and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, the film that made him a star). I think critics that gave the film a bad review missed the whole point and probably need to watch fewer films 'cause they're obviously burntout! All I can say is the fans have spoken, which is why, despite lukewarm reviews, the film went on to become a huge hit and success back in November of 2000! I will still of course watch the cartoon version, but this version will also find plenty of time in my DVD player as well!My only gripe with the DVD is that certain special features are too short or missing. The "Spotlight on Location" is barely over 7 minutes long. There are about 5 such featurettes included on the DVD that run between 4 to 10 minutes long. With such an interesting story like "The Grinch", a 60 minute or longer documentary should've been made to really take us inside not just the filming process, but the world of Seuss and Whoville as well. The other disappointment is there is no audio commentary included. I had almost expected one from director Ron Howard, who had always done one for previous Universal Pictures Collector's Edition DVDs (Apollo 13 & EDtv). I really wanted to know more about just how stressful it was on Jim Carrey to wear the Grinch costume. From interviews I've seen by Howard on Late Nite talk shows, Carrey became so tortured that he ripped the mask off his face and walked off the set. He was in the makeup chair everyday for 92 days straight. They had to get a Navy Seal team leader to instruct Carrey on ways of dealing with torture just so he could finish the shoot (no joke). This kind of story deserves much more insight, which is why I'm so disappointed that no commentary is available on the disc. So whenever people say Jim Carrey wasn't good as The Grinch, I scoff and say, "he went through torture to make that movie!" Some people are just hard to please. But don't let it ruin your Holiday Spirit! Add "The Grinch" to your collection today. And catch the special sneak preview trailer of E.T. The Extraterrestrial on this DVD (just before the movie begins), coming only to theaters in March 2002, with added footage, new special effects shots and more! The Grinch - It's not easy being green.
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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Puttin' on the Seuss, December 10, 2006
Many kids
Enjoy Christmas
They like it a lot
And this film
Is about the Grinch
Who did not
The film gives the background, and fills in some blanks
The Grinch as a child was subjected to pranks
He fancied a Who, with the name Martha May
He tried to impress her and to his dismay
They laughed at his efforts, his gift and his face
So he destroyed the classroom and fled from that place
Then,
He moved to Mount Crumpet
And made him a home
While the green hairy creature seethed under the dome
Until one cold day at the town Christmas party
When young Cindy Lou showed him how to be hearty
Then Mayor May-Who went and spoiled all the fun
By taunting the Grinch 'til he came all undone
He went up his mountain, and he started scheming
And when he was through he was smiling and beaming
He'd ruin their Christmas; he knew what to do
Revenge is the sweetest when it's overdue
If you've read the story you know how it ends
How the Grinch stole that Christmas from his former friends
So what happened next?
I won't give it away
This Christmas this movie will show every day
So if you're a Grinch you can run, but not hide
As you try to stifle the feeling inside
Just gather the kids for a clean yuletide treat
Merry Christmas to all!
(Now this poem's complete)
Amanda Richards, December 10, 2006
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