Hey, I like Jim Carrey. I do believe he is a comedic genius. Since director Ron Howard decided at some point not to direct him, however, this is one of the most inconsistent portrayals I have ever seen. One scene, when the Grinch is trying on clothes for a quick trip to Whoville, is wonderful. But after all of one minute, we are quickly returned to inconsistency and a dialect that changes almost scene by scene.
Visual overkill replaces the simple elegance of the original illustrations.
In the book, Whoville is just a bunch of huts. The set here is a baroque mishmash of modern and post-modern architecture , cramped and impossible to focus on.