[usr 3.5]
A grumpy Grinch plots to ruin Christmas for the village of Whoville.
I never thought I’d live to see the day when the Grinch (Benedict Cumberbatch) vehemently takes away the joy of the season only to give it back in an amazingly therapeutic fashion, but these are the times in which we live. As the holiday season gears into full swing, the all-new and improved Grinch is peeled back into a multitude of layers of self-discovery as he attempts to make an entire culture of happy people pay the price for his self-righteous bouts of loneliness and despair. His faithful dog Max is his partner in crime and the secluded cave on Mount Crumpet becomes the springboard for social injustice.
On the other end of the spectrum, and in her own cinematographic world, is Cindy-Lou Who (Cameron Seeley), who secretly plots to catch Santa in the act and give him the details regarding her overworked mother’s need to catch a break from the stresses and strains of life. In an attempt to sacrifice her own desires for the good of family and friends, Cindy-Lou hatches a plan to directly approach Santa and plead her case for wanting nothing more for Christmas than to see her mother get a reprieve from her daily grind. At the same time, the Grinch is knee-deep in his plans to go from house to house and take away the functional part of Christmas joy! While the Grinch contemplates taking the town by storm with his plot, he teeters back and forth with his own insecurities while justifying his need to make the playing field level.
In the midst of a well-planned and highly–animated heist, the Grinch and his buddy Max run house to house leaving no stone unturned while taking every element of Christmas out of the Who’s homes. When he mistakenly gets trapped by Cindy-Lou, he becomes stuck between a rock and a hard place as she mistakes him for Santa Claus and he is forced to reckon with his unsustainable plot. Not willing to be sidetracked, he finishes the job and when the whole town discovers they have been robbed, they make a communal decision that their joy comes from within and can never be taken away. The Grinch, who becomes mortified that the entire village of Whos can still celebrate the season sans gifts, decides that he must recover the goods in an attempt to right his wrongs.
Directors Yarrow Cheney and Scott Mosier did an excellent job recovering the parts of a traditional Dr. Seuss story (1966) and making the old seem new again. A less formidable Grinch and a cute-as-a-button Cindy-Lou, who did volumes for making this modern-day repentance-themed story, more redemptive, humanizing and child-friendly. With Pharrell Williams as narrator, this classic comes to life with lessons of humility that any age can acknowledge and appreciate. For a solid eighty-six minutes of joyful antagonism, this one is worth the price of admission!
In theaters Friday, November 9th
