Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas A Movie Review	MPAA Rated - PG It's 1:44 Long A Review by The Dude on the Right

You know the story, it’s the story of The Grinch (played by Jim Carrey), a sad, old figure who banished himself from Whoville and lives on top of the garbage dump. The town people try to ignore him and he hates Christmas. Cindy Lou Who (Taylor Momsen) is trying to figure out what Christmas is all about because around her it has just become about the presents people get. The Grinch sets his revenge on the Who’s by ruining Christmas, but in the end the story shows that Christmas isn’t about presents, it’s about a feeling inside that makes all of us a little nicer, a little kinder, and for one day we are sometimes feel like things aren’t so bad.

The cartoon version is half an hour, fun, and can keep a child’s attention span, but from what I saw of the movie version, it just didn’t click. Why? Not because Jim Carrey doesn’t play a good Grinch, he really does. It’s also not because the movie stretches the story because although it needs to in order to fill the over and a half slot, it does so simply by adding two major scenes. The first is an explanation of exactly why the Grinch ran away from the town (he was picked on as a little Who), and the other a scene where Cindy Lou tries to get the Grinch back into the town’s good graces, the town even likes the Grinch, but leave it to a mean old mayor and a woman to make the Grinch snap once again. These didn’t take away anything from the movie, actually the Grinch’s return to the town was one of the highlights I found in the film. Why I think the movie lost it is because Whoville didn’t seem like all that much fun. It’s look was rather dark, there was so much going on at times that even I got confused, and as it tried to tell the story it just seemed to drag on. I expected a bright Whoville, with sharp whites and crisp colors, but this Whoville was drab and I think without the bright colors, well, it didn’t help the little kiddies keep interested in a movie whose story became way too detailed for them to care.

There were a couple of bright spots, spots that made the kids laugh, but mostly all I heard were those fake chuckles by adults trying to get their kids to think something was funny. The little girl in front of me didn’t buy it, she was more fascinated with the projection room window, and although this movie will probably make lots of money and the product tie-ins are everywhere, I’m thinking this is one cartoon classic that should have been left alone.

The little kiddies lost interest for most of the movie, the parents faked their laughs through a lot of it, and I just don’t see this version of "Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas" becoming a Christmas classic like "It’s a Wonderful Life," "A Christmas Story," or any of the old cartoons ("Frosty the Snowman," "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", etc.). Some stories are better left to the art of the cartoon than trying to have real people play fake characters.

It’s 1 ½ stars for "Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas." I was tempted to give it two stars, but then I wondered why give the movie a rating more than I like it. Here’s hoping they don’t try to make a movie out of "Green Eggs and Ham."

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!