There's not a single person alive who could have pulled off the Grinch like Jim Carrey did. The man is a live-action cartoon character.

To answer Excitebot's question, the live-action film had to do a lot of things to stretch a Dr. Seuss book / 25 minute long cartoon into a full length movie, and many people feel the studio did a lot of it poorly. The Whos were rewritten to be largely unpleasant and consumerist, despite the fact that their entire role in the story originally was to enjoy Christmas together in spite of the Grinch stealing everything. There's a fair amount of dirty humor that many feel is largely unbefitting of a Christmas movie or Dr. Seuss property, and Jim Carrey is definitely not everyone's cup of tea.

It's funny, I actually kind of like the consumerist angle of the Whos. Sort of like they would inevitably miss the entire point of Christmas, and it peaked during the Grinch's plot to steal it. I liked how Cindy-Lou Who provided some great contrast to the rest of the Whos, as well as be an outsider in her own right that could relate to the Grinch a lot more than anyone else in the movie.

Some people didn't like how the Grinch was given a backstory, but for me, it gave me a lot of insight as to how someone ends up that way. Dude was mocked relentlessly for being different, and as a result he eventually lashed out as a vulnerable child, closing out everyone after giving them and Christmas a fair chance. Fuck, do I feel that sometimes.

Also, it has some iconic bits like the "YOU'RE AN IDIOT" scene, The Grinch secretly plotting to solve world hunger during his moping sessions, and my favorite quote "LOOOOOOOOOOOATHE… ENTIRELY"