The Grinch

I think the following exchange sums up my feelings about this movie.  There was a mom and her son (he looked to be around 4) sitting next to us in the theatre.  About halfway into the movie the boy turns to his mom and says. “I don’t like this movie, can we go home now?”  Hey kid – I’m with you!  I wasn’t going to see this movie at all, but I thought with Benedict Cumberbatch voicing the Grinch, maybe he would be up to the task, or at least add one reliably interesting element.  I was wrong.  You might remember how Jay Ward and the Warner Brothers deftly crafted their comedy cartoons so there were elements that appealed to the adult, some that appealed to the kid, and some that covered all the bases. This writer and his team definitely weren’t able to do this.  That being said,  if you are a kid between the age of 5-10, you might find this a somewhat enjoyable holiday entry.  I must say that except for a scene of the Grinch shopping in town (his interactions with the townspeople are WAY off Suess’ script), he never seemed very mean or even that scary. He’s bland, homogenized into a pale imitation of the original. The otherwise pointless inclusion of a cliched giant moose character probably helped them expand it from the television half hour to a movie length story.  The new music is pedestrian, not very catchy; but the worst is the reimagined Cindy Lou Who who is now an incredibly spunky hockey playing girl with an equally incredibly saintly single mother.   This one should have Dr. Suess rising from the grave faster than Jacob Marley’s ghost!  If I had a child or grandchild who was in the right age range for this movie, I still wouldn’t take them to see it.  Instead, we would microwave some popcorn, snuggle under a nice warm blanket, and watch the original made for televsion version.  Boris Karloff – you are missed!!