Movie Review: How the Grinch Stole Christmas
What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this movie is rated PG for brief
crude humor (the Grinch tricks another character into kissing a
dog's rear end) and comic peril. The movie may be too intense
and overwhelming for children under 6 or 7. The movie's one
major drawback is the near-absence of people of color in
Whoville. Families that do not celebrate Christmas may also
have some concerns about the movie.
- Families can talk about why it is so easy to forget the simple pleasures of the winter holidays, and how damaging it can be to peoples' feelings to tease them about being different. The Grinch often does things that he thinks will make him feel better. Do they work? Do they help him forget his loneliness? Why not? Why doesn't being bad feel as good as you might think?
Based on the classic Christmas story by Dr. Seuss, this is the story of a Christmas-hating Grinch who tries to steal Christmas from the Christmas-loving Whos by taking all of their presents and decorations. But they and he come to realize that Christmas is in their hearts, not under their trees. The movie seamlessly expands the story to let us explore Whoville and its residents and to tell us just how the Grinch came to hate Christmas in the first place.
Audiences will feel like their own hearts are two sizes too large at the end of this wonderful sugarplum of a movie. Whoville, as imagined by production designer Michael Corenblith, is the most breathtakingly magical setting since Dorothy landed in Munchkinland. The structures suspend the laws of gravity; there are a fantastic series of archways, bridges, stairs and spirals. Whoville clothes and hairstyles echo these shapes and then are topped with candy canes, cups of hot chocolate, and frosted cookies.
Jim Carrey and the Grinch were made for each other, while newcomer Taylor Momsen, as Cindy Lou Who, is adorable without being sugary. The settings and costumes and the Grinch himself are so mesmerizing that it would be easy to miss the rest of the cast, but Bill Irwin as Cindy Lou's harried mailman father, Jeffrey Tambor as the vain mayor, and Christine Baranksi as a Who with Christmas decorations that would make Martha Stewart gnash her teeth in envy all make vivid impressions. The script has some clever lines, including a parody of the film's director (former Andy Griffith Show star Ron Howard) and a dig at those who say that "kids today are desensitized by movies and television." Another of the movie's great joys is hearing Anthony Hopkins reads Seuss' words the way we have always heard them in our hearts.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Santa Clause
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