I really love the original cartoon, which premiered in 1966 and has been loved by millions for almost 40 years. I was a little bit skeptical when I heard that there was to be a big-budget remake starring Jim Carrey. I have to admit that I had a hard time going into this film with an open mind. I was not disappointed.

This is a perfect example of a situation where the only possible reason to remake a movie is to line the pocketbooks of those involved. Despite the fact that it had absolutely nothing of worth to add to the original book and animated short film, it added anyway: over an hour of unneccessary padding that was awkward and bad and unfunny and uninspired. Other than some pretty good set design and special effects, there was nothing new of value in this version. I didn't even like Carrey's manic performance as the Grinch. He was more agitated than evil, as if all he really needed was a prescription for Ritalin and everything would be fine. Many of what were clearly his ad-libs fell flat.

The padding introduces a halting anti-commercialism critique of the whole Christmas industry, in addition to an explanation of the Grinch's roots as a member of the Who tribe. Apparently he was delivered all green and hairy, and the kids picked on him because he was different. He was also a rotten kid from the beginning, and he ran away when his attempts to woo the prettiest girl in class fail. He moved to the top of a nearby mountian, where he became a boogeyman, a story used by parents to scare their kids and a handy way to dare one's friends to prove their courage.

The Grinch gets the idea one Christmas to travel down and disrupt things. He burps, he trips people, he insults them under his breath. This is completely against the character created by Suess, mind you; his Grinch would never willingly mingle with people, even if it was to sabotage their fun. He gets involved with Cindy Lou Who (Taylor Momsen), a young stargazer who wants to bring him back into the fold. She's a nice girl, and she thinks she sees some good in him after he rescues her from a mail sorting machine. She travels around the town interviewing people who knew him when he was young, and engineers it so he wins an award, thus luring him into town. It goes bad, as does everything for the green guy, and he decides to steal Christmas to get even. At this point, the movie takes up the more familiar elements of the original story. It becomes a rather faithful adaptation, Carrey tones it down a bit, and I actually enjoyed it for a while. But I still had a bad taste in my mouth from the first two thirds, and I can't imagine this ever surpassing the original in popularity. In ten years, the beloved cartoon will still be syndicated, while this will fade as a failed experiment.