'GRINCH' CAST AND CREW DELIVER WITH CHARM.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

Audrey Geisel may jealously guard the legacy of her late husband Dr. Seuss' incomparably clever kids' books. But in reality, everyone owns ``How the Grinch Stole Christmas,'' at least in their own memories.

We've all read it. We all loved it. We made our children read it and watch Chuck Jones' cartoon version every year. So we all, naturally, are certain of exactly how a live movie version of ``Grinch'' should be.

All of which means that, even though we won't, we should approach Ron Howard's big-screen Seuss machine with all the slack we're capable of cutting. Inevitably, the director and his manic star, Jim Carrey, have their visions of the thing, and they won't be just like those of lots of folks. But if it's at all possible to view the film objectively, there's much that's worth appreciating.

To begin with, Howard, production designer Michael Corenblith, makeup maven Rick Baker and the computer visual effects team at Digital Domain have created a fully imagined fantasy environment for the darkly comic myth. Their Whoville may not resemble Seuss' simpler, original, thatched-hut hamlet, and it's easy to fault the architecturally overbusy sets for looking like an unholy marriage of Frank Lloyd Wright and Rube Goldberg, honeymooning in Toontown. Yet the bold outlandishness of this construct, one that never acknowledges the possibility of either straight lines or natural shapes, is awesome in its physics-defying totality. It may be a screechy sort of world, but it's one that can engulf you.

As for the story, well, something had to be done. The book was just about the night the nasty green Grinch hijacked all the funny-nosed Whos' holiday cheer, and the consequent redemption of both parties. Enough for about 20 minutes worth of screen time, if that. So writers Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman (``Who Framed Roger Rabbit?''), reportedly assisted by some ``Seinfeld'' veterans, came up with a backstory. Seems it wasn't easy being a green kid, or hairy either, and the Grinch's wickedness is basically an outgrowth of youthful alienation. Not the greatest of ideas, but it sure beats a ``Little Nicky'' explanation.

The one really shrewd plot point is representing Cindy Lou Who as a pint-sized, proactive girl-power model. Played by the charismatic but blessedly unforced, 7-year-old Taylor Momsen, she's the only Who in town who isn't scared by the Grinch, and is therefore able to sympathize with him. Plus, unlike in the book, she has as many questions about her people's unhealthy obsession with the holiday as ugly Mr. Curlytoes does.

The other smart thing about Cindy Lou's characterization is that it effectively heads off the primary parental worry at the pass. Sure, we all loved the story about the mean green monster, as the wee ones do now, but who isn't worried that the movie will frighten their tykes? After all, that Carrey guy can be pretty rude - which is why we used to like him before we got old and all responsible-feeling - and even if you can't recognize him under all of that brilliantly expressive makeup ... well, the makeup's kinda scary, too. But Momsen faces him down with the unflappable panache of a Charlie's Cherub, which should prove empowering to most children, and at least a good example to the more timid ones.

As for that central performance, well, the man is always brilliant whether you like him or not. Effusive with wacky body language, free-forming straight from his boisterous, bent psyche while the Grinch exults in the isolation of his trash-strewn Guggenheim of a mountain lair, Carrey overdoes everything with superb inventiveness and multilayered wit. No one else could project so much past all that sculpted foam and still seem spontaneous.

And yes, it's too much, like everything in this movie. But then, it is ``How the Grinch Stole Christmas,'' as outsized an imaginative fable as the modern era's got.

And it's Christmas, for Grinch's sake; better to overdo it than be sacrilegious and not.

``DR. SEUSS' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS''

(Rated PG: cartoonish violence)

The stars: Jim Carrey, Taylor Momsen, Jeffrey Tambor, Christine Baranski, Bill Irwin, Molly Shannon, Anthony Hopkins (narration).

Behind the scenes: Directed by Ron Howard. Written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman, based on Dr. Seuss' book. Produced by Brian Grazer and Howard. Released by Universal Pictures.

Running time: One hour, 37 minutes.

Playing: Citywide.

Our rating: Three stars