Horton Hears a Who! Review

I hadn’t been to the movies for almost two months before I went to check out "Horton Hears a Who!"

It’s not that I’ve been busy or anything — it’s that the first two and a half months of 2008 have been so uninspiring that "Horton" automatically found its way into my top 3 for the year. (Here’s the list: 1. "27 Dresses" 2. "Horton Hears a Who!" 3. "Cloverfield" That’s the list of movies I’ve seen this year.)

"Horton", from the creators of "Ice Age", is the latest adaptation of a classic Dr. Seuss story. This one centers around eccentric elephant Horton (voiced by Jim Carrey) who, after hearing a faint cry from a speck on a flower, discovers there’s an entire town populated by the Whos and their mayor (voiced by Steve Carell). Unfortunately for Horton, the bossy Kangaroo (voiced by Carol Burnett) strongly disapproves of Horton’s blind faith and overly-active imagination.

The last couple of adaptations based on Dr. Seuss’ work — the live-action "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (starring Carrey) and "The Cat in the Hat" — have favored over-the-top antics (though I actually enjoy "Grinch") in favor of strong storytelling.

"Horton" looked like it was headed in the same direction.

My girl Erica and I pretty much agreed that Jim Carrey was pretty grating as Horton during the movie’s first 15 minutes or so, and I thought the movie was going to work my nerves the entire time. Fortunately, the action shifted to Whoville and my boy Steve Carell. It’s possible that my incredible bias in favor of Steve Carell made me enjoy the Who segments a lot more, but I think it’s more likely the actor’s comparably subtle, flustered charms really did the trick.

Once a balance was established between the Horton and Whoville segments, I settled into the movie and enjoyed it (and Carrey’s performance) considerably more. Besides Carell, the cast’s other standout was the legendary Burnett, who made for one of the nastiest antagonists I can imagine — an overbearing know-it-all. Funny people like Seth Rogen, Will Arnett and Amy Poehler also turn up, mostly to amuse adults. I also really liked the weird, mute yellow creature — if you see this flick, you’ll know who I’m talking about.

Most importantly, unlike the two previous Seuss adaptations I mentioned, "Horton" does a nice job of maintaining the original story’s message(s) while updating it for the "modern" crowd.

So while we get funny, inspired touches like the mayor’s emo son and a slightly extended and wonderfully random parody of Japanimation, the movie never loses sight of its major themes — having faith in things we may not necessarily see or hear and the idea that "a person’s a person, no matter how small." By the end, I was genuinely invested in what happened to the characters — well, mostly the Whos. Horton? Not so much.

Horton Hears a Who!...B