Written by Adelle Brodbeck
25 Days of Christmas Film Series: How The Grinch Stole Christmas
I can’t say that I had ever seen the live action re-telling of How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) all the way through until I was prompted to write this article. It had always been that Christmas special I would half-heartedly watch for a few minutes before switching the TV channel.
After catching a blatant comedic jab at the commercialization of Christmas within the first five minutes of Ron Howard’s remake, I thought I could at least give it a shot. Once the Grinch, played by Jim Carrey, started tossing jury duty notices into the mailboxes of unsuspecting Whoville citizens, I thought I could potentially enjoy it.
However, overall the multitude of corny, and sometimes crude jokes made throughout the movie will be lost on the intended audience of a PG rating and aren’t actually humorous enough to sustain the attention of older crowds. The most basic platforms of charm and innocence that came with the original Grinch story are entirely absent in this over-stylized version.
I would say that How the Grinch Stole Christmas perfectly serves as a backup holiday movie; one to pull out when all other options have been watched too many times, or when you need to entertain a couple of children and it’s the only DVD left in the $5 sale bin at Target. It has superficial entertainment value, but not enough nostalgic undertones to offset the cringe-worthy acting and cheap comedy.
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