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Jim Carrey's cranky, cantankerous Grinch is actually the most endearing character in The Grinch Who Stole Christmas - and is definitely my favorite character. He whines and complains; he pouts and sulks; he has a marvelously negative attitude - he's a lot of fun!The same can't be said for most of the other characters. The Grinch Who Stole Christmas takes place in an imaginary land called Whoville, populated by Whos - elfish people who love Christmas more than any other holiday. Naturally, the Christmas-hating Grinch is hated by the Whos.
Apparently that's okay with him - he lives on a hilltop with only his dog for company, and wants nothing to do with the Whos - unless he's busy wrecking their Christmas celebration, of course.
Jim Carrey makes a terrific Grinch - his sarcasm and bad attitude are a welcome relief from the happy, peppy Whos. However, they make a nice contrast.
Although I enjoyed The Grinch, I would have preferred that a few things were done differently. For starters, the movie should have focused more on the comical Grinch and less on the silly, annoying Whos.
That's my second complaint. I think The Grinch would have been more amusing if it had been set in a modern, real-life human city, not in an imaginary world. Yes, I realize this movie is based on fantasy and much of it is unrealistic, but I still didn't like Whoville - the design or the people.
One of my favorite Christmas movies is The Santa Clause, a film which contains plenty of unrealistic fantasy - the stuff that most good Christmas movies are made of. However, it is set in a modern American city, and it begins with realistic characters thrust into a fantastical, magical situation. Had The Grinch taken this course, it would have been far funnier.
As it is, The Grinch is very entertaining mainly because the Grinch is both a refreshingly miserable and comical character - and the movie was well plotted. I could have done without the sappy singing, cliched phrases and messages, but otherwise I found The Grinch Who Stole Christmas to be a light comedy.
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