How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) **

Directed by Ron Howard. With Jim Carrey, Christine Baranski, Molly Shannon. Welcome to Whoville, a wretched, totalitarian little town where everybody looks, talks and thinks alike, and where everybody has to love Christmas, or else... Only one man is brave enough to challenge this souless conformity - the Grinch, a brave individualist staunchly defending personal freedom, who refuses to toe the line and maintains a healthy dose of skepticism towards that horribly commercialized holiday. He might be a tad cynical (his daily schedule include such tasks as “wallow in self-pity” and “solve world hunger - tell no one”), but he’s the only reason to watch this otherwise mediocre adaptation of the famous Dr Seuss’s story. Unfortunately, even the Grinch ultimately surrenders his values and joins the collectivist society - giving this political allegory a very tragic ending.