How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Universal Pictures | Release Date: November 17, 2000 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
46
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
10
Negative:
8
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Boston GlobeJay Carr
With Carrey hitting a career peak, this Grinch doesn't steal Christmas; it restores the season by helping energize us enough to make it through the whole thing.
91
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
He's (Carrey) a marvelous Grinch in this spirited, bustling and mostly faithful spin on Seuss. Read full review
88
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Deliriously inventive. Read full review
80
Film.comRobert Horton
Carrey is an actor possessed. He's brilliant. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Carrey is excellent, making the most of his comic gifts even in a cumbersome Grinch outfit, and the eye-spinning color scheme is dazzling to behold. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Opulence almost interferes with the movie, weighing it down when it should seem lighter than air, surrounding the inarguably brilliant Carrey with too much frosting and frou-frou.
70
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
Entrancingly lurid live-action fantasy. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Not likely to become any landmark achievement, yet it's sure to earn a berth among the perennial Christmas film classics. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
If anything, the real surprise here is how affecting he makes the Grinch's ultimate big hearted turnaround, as Carrey the actor sneaks up on Carrey the wild man dervish. In whichever mode, he carreys the movie. Read full review
63
New York PostJonathan Foreman
By far the best and cutest thing about How the Grinch Stole Christmas is the dog Max.
63
San Francisco ExaminerWesley Morris
Leave it to Ron Howard to turn a plaintive Dr. Seuss ditty into a C-grade Tim Burton psychodrama.
60
TV Guide MagazineSteve Simels
A smartly stylized hoot. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
One overstuffed movie, but it's by no means a turkey. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
I am not a mind-reader and cannot be sure, but I think a lot of children are going to look at this movie with perplexity and distaste. It's just not much fun. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Stack
Overall, the film sparkles. But it's a curiously unaffecting sparkle, an example, almost, of how the special effects stole Christmas. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
The movie rises to another level whenever its star has a chance to cut loose -- leading the ensemble in a conga line, winning a sack race in slow motion, torching the Whos' Christmas tree while screaming, "Burn baby burn." Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
It's a big stuffed turkey of a movie, just in time for the holidays.
50
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Noisy, random and hard on the eyes.
50
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
The scenes involving just him (Carrey) are funny and full of life. All the other scenes are not. Read full review
50
USA TodayMike Clark
Overproduced and essentially charmless. Read full review
40
Film.comSean Means
The heart of this movie isn't two sizes too small; it's just slightly misplaced. Read full review
38
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Misfires on nearly every possible level.
30
L.A. WeeklyHazel-Dawn Dumpert
This new feature has replaced the original's benevolence, taste and wit with cynicism, armpit humor and manic, desperately unfunny padding. Read full review
25
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
The dullest, clunkiest, big-budget fantasy since Steven Spielberg flattened Peter Pan in "Hook."
20
SlateDavid Edelstein
Profoundly unnecessary -- cluttered, padded even at 90 minutes, indifferently narrated by Anthony Hopkins, and consistently misdirected by Ron Howard. Read full review
20
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Shrill, strenuous and entirely without charm, Ron Howard's attempt at a Christmas classic is an elaborately wrapped empty box that will fool many people into buying it but will not greatly please its recipients. Read full review
20
The New York TimesStephen Holden
So clogged with kooky gadgetry and special effects and glitter and goo that watching it feels like being gridlocked at Toys "R" Us during the Christmas rush. Read full review
20
Washington PostDesson Thomson
It's not Christmas that's being stolen here. It's the spirit of Dr. Seuss. Read full review
20
SalonStephanie Zacharek
You will not like it on the screen, you will not like it -- not one scene! Read full review
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