Ron Howard's new movie "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" is fraught with problems of the same kind that made a fiasco of Robert Altman's live-action cartoon "Popeye" 20 years ago.
The only reason "Grinch" succeeds where "Popeye" failed is that Jim Carrey puts the entire film on his green, furry shoulders and carries it with a riotous, full-throttle performance.
"Popeye" also boasted a terrific bit of central casting — who better as Popeye and Olive Oyl than Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall? But, sadly, they weren't enough to save that muddled mess of a movie.
Still, the parallels are rather astonishing.
"Grinch's" remarkable set design, costuming and makeup are too often merely distracting — and even more often, they simply add to the on-screen clutter. (An even more serious problem in "Popeye.")
The Whos' makeup, with Bob Hope-style ski noses, exaggerated upper lips and ridiculous overbites comes off as a bit gruesome instead of cute. (Is this Dr. Seuss or Stephen King?) The gags and puns are lame, and the attempts at slapstick are frail at best.
There's also a surprising — and yet not so surprising — propensity for vulgar gags, all of which seem wildly out of place in a children's movie. In particular a children's Christmas movie. Things like Jim Carrey falling on Christine Baranski, with his nose landing in her cleavage; a Christmas party where the adult Whos put their keys into a fishbowl, as if it's a swinging-'60s wife-swapping soiree; and not one but two butt-kissing gags.
And the talented supporting cast is sadly underused — especially slapstick artist Bill Irwin as Cindy Lou Who's father. Irwin is a very talented physical comedian, as anyone who's ever seen his stage performances can attest. (If you watch the Turner Classic Movies cable channel, you may have seen him in a goofy suit and hat, pitching silent movies.)
However — and this is a huge however — Jim Carrey as the Grinch is a scream.
If the measure of an Oscar-worthy performance is to make the audience genuinely believe an actor is a particular character, let's hand the statuette over to Carrey right now.
Aside from its own brand of clutter, bad songs and low humor, one of "Popeye's" main problems was that Altman tried to make that film an ensemble piece . . . with ill-fitting pieces. Based on the success of "Grinch," maybe he should have just let Robin Williams take over and be the whole show.
Carrey's Grinch is more than just believable — he thoroughly embodies the character. And while we've seen him do that before — most recently, and perhaps most fully with the ill-advised Andy Kaufman biography, "Man on the Moon" — this is the first time it's happened in a picture that most avid moviegoers will no doubt see. Maybe more than once.
Aside from being utterly convincing as the Grinch, Carrey is also hysterically funny. His loopy mix of grouchiness, deep-rooted anger and wisecracks, along with an internal desire to be loved, makes him as heartfelt and sympathetic as he is laugh-provoking. No mean feat.
And his interaction with Max, the dog, is a hoot, elevating the pooch to the level of comic sidekick.
Carrey's performance truly is amazingly full-bodied, to include taking advantage of his full, and completely limber, body as he bends, shifts and twists himself like a human . . . er . . . Grinch pretzel.
Despite being buried under tons of Grinch makeup, Carrey's face is also remarkable. With every grimace and growl, he IS Dr. Seuss' Grinch. And make no mistake, the expressions are all him. If you've ever seen Carrey's old stand-up act — long before he became the world's highest-paid movie star — you know what he's capable of. Not only can he do vocal impressions of people like James Dean and Clint Eastwood, he can actually contort his facial muscles to look like Dean and Eastwood! It's absolutely astonishing.
As a result of all this, Carrey's performance alone makes "Grinch" well worth seeing — and everyone will, of course.
But it is too bad the film isn't better. One wonders what someone like Tim Burton might have done with the same material. Just look at Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993) and take note of all the funny little sight gags going on in the periphery . . . sometimes the funniest moments are just goofy little bits of business in the background. And this is another film that — while animated — could easily have just been too cluttered and annoying. But the director (Burton collaborator Henry Selick) knew how to handle the material.
Still, thanks to Carrey, this "Grinch" will handily steal the bulk of this season's entertainment money.
And could it become the first children's movie (and Christmas film) to land a best-actor Oscar?
E-MAIL: hicks@desnews.com