The Grinch Movie (Spoiler Material Ahead)

Cafe Society
1

I saw this movie the other day with my over-enthusiastic sister. She even brought her little stuffed Grinch doll to the movie, and practicly bounced with excitement the entire time.

Sadly, both her and I were generally disappointed with the movie.

Since the movie is obvious targeted to children, the creators apparantly thought it neccessary to include some material that would make it at least bearable for the adults who brought children to see the movie. Nearly all of this material made me cringe.

For example:

  • A love interest between the Grinch and a Who
  • Swear words. I noticed “hell” and “bitchin’”.
  • Sexuality. The Grinch, at one point, falls and lands face first into the cleavage of a Who. Also, there is unneccessary kissing. I have nothing against kissing (even between Whos) but this is a Dr. Seuss story for cryin’ out loud! (FTR, I loved the explanation of where little Whos come from.)

Some of the jokes were out of place. At one point in the film, the Grinch hails a taxi, which drives right by him. He yells after it, “It’s because I’m green, isn’t it?” Somewhat humorous reference to black people having trouble getting taxis, but it didn’t deserve to be in this movie.

Also, there was a scene where the Grinch steals a tiny Who car and drives it, eventually crashing. (He had taken a drink of alcohol beforehand. Ha. Ha.) The car is in tiny little flames, and the Grinch starts running. Things start moving in slow motion. Predictably, the tiny car bursts into a HUGE explosion. In another movie, such an occurance would have been a hilarious tweak-of-the-nose to those movies where nearly everything blows up big. But this is “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”! There shouldn’t be explosions of any type!

The absolute worst part of the movie was the explanation of the Grinch’s grinchiness. He was mocked in school. Great galloping goober flingers, I don’t need (nor want) an explanation of why he’s grinchy, especially not such a corny one!

There were some good things, though. Cindy Lou Who (who was not more than two, in the book) is absolutely precious, and plays a much greater role in the movie than in the book. The sets and cosumes are very Seussian (I love the hair styles) and well-crafted. Jim Carrey, of course, makes a perfect Grinch. And Max, the dog, should win an Oscar for best supporting actor.

I understand that the movie had to add some things. If it followed the book perfectly, it would last maybe twenty minutes, at most. Still, most of what was added was not, IMHO, appropriate or interesting.

Paradoxically, I believe the movie would have appealed more to adults if the “adult” material had been left out. I know I would have enjoyed it more, for it would have been truer to the Seussian vision. My sister agrees; she’s 21.

Have any other Dopers seen this movie? If so, what did you think of it?

2

Did you happen to notice that the party was a key/swingers party? I’m glad kids don’t know the significance of those keys, unless they begin to ask…

You have to admit though, it was funny to see this farce of big action movies.

No kidding. In the movie, the dog was the best actor.

They probably should’ve had more rhyming in the movie; I think that’s what was missing.

3

I too, found some of the “adult” jokes a bit immature. And at some parts, I found Carrey’s Grinch a re-hashing of all of his past characters (I’ve mentioned this in another post, but oh well): Ace Ventura, The Riddler, and Tony Clifton (like I mentioned before, even though Clifton was Andy Kaufman’s alter ego…still). I did like the whole Cheermeister Celebration, especially the sack race where Grinch is pushing down Whos and snickering.

From,

Anake

4

This movie looks damned disturbing! shudder Live Action Grinch…No…

5

Uhoh. Do I dare ask what a key/swingers party is? I just assumed the keys were being collected because they were drunk and didn’t want anyone driving home.

6

a “key party” is where one of each couple drop their keys in a bowl, and at the end of the night, pull out another set of keys, and the couples are re-paired in this manner
(for example, man tosses in keys, woman selects keys, goes home with owner of same).

Not that I have personal knowledge. I read a lot.

7

Personally, i thought the movie kicked ass. It was lighthearted and funny, and it was a lot better than sitting home on a friday night. It was rated PG, so you can’t expect a completely innocent movie. Just because it’s based on a kid’s book, that doesn’t mean it’s aimed only for kids.

The “adult scenes” were humorous and even kind of subtle, I wouldn’t have noticed most of them had I been younger. Hell, I’m 18, and I still didn’t catch some of them!
Ron Howard did the best he could with a limited storyline. He had to add stuff in somewhere, to make any money at all. The original Dr Seuss movie was what, 30 minutes? Personally, if I’m gonna pay $8.50 for a movie ticket, I want more than half an hour.

But that might just be me.

8

I am not a parent, but each Thanksgivning weekend I have three children to bring to a movie. Is this movie OK for a 5 year old? Or should I be looking at Rugrats in Paris?

Many thanks!

9

This was something that turned me off of the movie when I first saw the trailer. My brother and I were in the theater, and after about a minute of watching Carrey’s performance I turned to my brother and said, “OK, that’s just wrong.” He agreed. We both thought he was channeling the Riddler when he did this part.

Zoggie, I have to agree with you … there should not be a live-action version of the Grinch. I don’t think I’ll be going to this movie.

10

Some of them are funny, but I hardly think the majority of them are subtle. How is the Grinch falling face first into the bosom of a rather sexy Who subtle? How is a giant explosion subtle? Granted, most of the stuff ranges from funny to hilarious, but I just think that it didn’t belong in this particular movie.

I admit that if the movie had used the book and only the book as a guide, then it would have made for a very short movie. But I still think there must have been better “filler” material that would be truer to the original story. For example, I would have liked the movie to spend more time on the Grinch sneaking into the Who houses and stealing their presents. This was dealt with for only a brief time in the movie, even though it had terrific comic and FX potential.

The sets and costumes were very fitting, and I wish the movie relied less on dialogue and more on setting and scenery. The movie could have spent more time showing us the sites and sounds (and Whos) of Whoville.

I’d be more willing to pay $8.50 to see the cartoon version than the new one. I don’t mind the length of movies, so long as the movie is good and the length fits the movie. Besides, they could have added more appropriate filler. By appropriate I don’t mean just “suitable for children”, but “fits the spirit of the book”.

Oh well, I guess I’m just bitter 'cause I love the book so much. :frowning:
sigh

11

For the record, nobody outside of America even knows about the original csrtoon or book. I’ve never seen it ever.

12

Actually, it would have made the most dreadfully BORING movie.

What life’s like in Whoville, what a handful of individual Whos are like (Such as Little Cindy Lou Who), and what the Grinch is like - THIS would be good filler. And, looking at the ads, and other Grinch stuff I’ve seen, it looks like this is what we got.

Grinch slinking about Whoville for more than at most 5 minutes would have me demanding my money back.

13

Count me in to!! Every time a preview would come on TV I would just cringe and change it. Yikes! Needless to say though I broke down and went to see it yesterday with my 10 year old daughter and after the 20 minutes we both were ready to leave. I was very dissapointed.

14

I enjoyed it. It had amazing visuals throughout the movie, great acting by Carrey, and a billion and a half little “inside” jokes. It managed to get most if not all of the entire book somewhere in there, and though it will NEVER replace the cartoon or the book, it is a good “updated” version.

15

I saw “The Grinch” last night with the kids.

Quick review: Jim Carrey is a great Grinch. When they stick to the Seuss story, it works. It’s the half-hour in the middle of the movie that hurts.

It must be extremely difficult to stretch this wonderful and concise story into a 2 hour movie. But if your going to attempt it, you have to acknowledge the talent of Dr. Seuss and expand on his vision. The writers of this movie didn’t do that.

The Grinch is supposed to embody the distaste for the commercialism of Christmas. THAT’S the idea one should expand on. Instead, there is a back story which suppossedly explains why the Grinch is mean (As a child he looked “different” from the other Whos. In school, his homemade Christmas gift for a girl that he likes is mocked.) This makes it seem like his dislike for Christmas is driven by the rejection he felt. The way those Whos acted, why would anyone WANT to be accepted by them?

If I may so bold, here’s what I would write: The Whos, a nice bunch of folks, have unwittingly allowed Christmas to become too commercial. The family of Cindi Lou Who are poor (like the Cratchitts in “A Christmas Carol”) so they cannot afford all the trimmings. Cindi Lou is feeling blue about this one day, so her parents explain to her how Christmas isn’t about buying, but about giving - giving one’s friendship, love, and cheer. Cindi is so taken by this that she decides to give cheer to the one person she feels needs it the most: the legendary Grinch. She climbs Mt. Crumpet and, with some homemade cookies, invites The Grinch to the holiday feast. He sneers and mocks the Who’s commercialism (insert a song where he dances among the trash piles of Whoville, displaying discarded gifts). After Cindi leaves, The Grinch softens ever so slightly, and decides to pay a visit to Whoville to see if perhaps they’ve changed, and to perhaps purchase a few cookies for Cindi Lou. He dons his disguise and enters town, where he’s bombarded on all sides with commercialism (insert a song about sales and shopping, sung by the merry Whos). He leaves the town enraged, vowing to teach them all a lesson. He disguises himself as Santa, enters the town, and steals the gifts.

When the Whos wake up and see their gifts gone, there is momentary confusion. Somebody looks up and sees the Grinch atop Mt. Crumpet, geting ready to destroy the gifts. That’s when Cindi Lou steps up and declares that the Grinch has actually given them a great gift - Christmas without commercialism. The happy Whos sing, the Grinch’s heart grows, yadda yadda, he carves the roast beast.

Some inside jokes to insert: a diner having a special on green eggs and ham, a pet shop displaying kittens wearing red-striped hats.

If Ron Howard calls, tell him we’ll do lunch.

16

That’s a shame. It’s (of course) written by Theodore Geisel (Dr. Suess), animated by Chuck Jones (think Bugs Bunny), and narrated by Boris Karlov (you better know who HE is, buster!), and it is great.

I refuse to see the movie. I became extremely annoyed when I saw that it has been rated “PG” instead of “G”, and from what I’ve read in this thread, I’m extremely disappointed in the movie translation. I mean, come on, obvious sexual jokes in a Dr. Suess movie, is that fitting? I’m not a prude or anything like that, it’s just that part of me doesn’t want to see a classic like that sullied in such a way.

17

I enjoyed it also and I’m not afraid to admit it. Then again, I am also partial to tales of revenge and hatred of avarice. But anyway, I found the immature adult jokes to be quite refreshing. Perhaps for the big, stupid kid in me.

I just don’t like the ending. In my world the Grinch would stay furious and the Whos wouldn’t learn a damn thing. But it is a children’s movie, after all. And I don’t think they producers would want to mangle the ending as little as possible.

MR

18

I thought it was ok. It made me laugh out loud a few times and the visual was excellent. However:

I HATED Jim Carey as the Grinch. First of all, he was trying to sound like Boris Karloff (who did the voice of the Grinch in the 26 minute cartoon version) but he ended up sounding like Sean Connery. Plus, he was just too Jim Carey. There was a lot of Riddler and Ace Ventura coming through that I just don’t see as part of the Grinch.

Also, there was some wacky 90’s version of the song, “You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch” which sucked.

Also, major point of contention: In the book/cartoon, the Whos wake up, have no presents or decorations, etc and DON’T CARE! The Grinch is confounded by this. He says, “It came without ribbons…it came without tags…it came without packages, boxes or bags! Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store…maybe Christmas means just a little bit more.”
In the movie, the Whos wake up with no stuff and chaos ensues! Everyone is angry, yelling at Cindy Lou for ruining Christmas by inviting the Grinch and causing them to lose all their stuff. Then the Grinch brings it all back, and yay! They’re happy again. I’m sorry, but that is completely opposite from the point the book was trying to make. And they still had the audacity to use the “It came without ribbons…” line in the movie. NO, it DIDN’T come without ribbons or tags. You were all whiny little Whos unitl you got your packages, boxes and bags!
Grr.

So anyway, I have heard that there is a live-action “The Cat in the Hat” coming out, starring Tim Allen.

19

You’ve never heard of the book? My husband grew up in Australia (moved here when he was 25) and was definitely exposed to all of the Dr. Seuss books, although he had never seen the cartoon about the Grinch.

Come on, Hop on Pop? Cat in the Hat? One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish?

Broaden your horizons, man!

20

Saw it Saturday with my nigh-7-year-old, and we both liked it. The adult references passed him by - the part where the Grinch falls into Martha May’s cleavage was no biggie, in my opinion, I’ve seen worse stuff when Bugs Bunny dresses in drag.

I thought the Whoville set was amazing - very Seussian. And I really didn’t have a problem with the majority of the story line. I doubt I could have taken more than the time they spent on the stealing-presents thing - it would have gotten tiresome pretty quickly.

Actually, Sunshine, it was only the Mayor who raised hell, if I recall correctly.

The bitchin’ comment did surprise me, though. But I thought it was funny.