Movie Info
Movie Name: Elf
Studio: New Line Cinema
Genre(s): Comedy/Family/Romance/Seasonal
Release Date(s): November 7, 2003
MPAA Rating: PG
It’s tough being an elf
Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrell) has always felt like an outcast among the other elves. He can’t make toys like the others and he’s three times as big as every other elf. Buddy learns a secret; he’s a human…but even worse, his father (James Caan) is on the naughty list! Buddy sets out for New York City to meet his family and see the world. Buddy learns that everything might not be perfect in the city, but when he meets a girl named Jovie (Zooey Deschanel), his world begins to change.
Directed by Jon Favreau, Elf is a holiday family comedy. The movie was both a critical and box office success. It spawned a Broadway musical and an animated holiday special called Elf: Buddy’s Musical Christmas. The film also became a regular during holiday season airings.
I didn’t get to see Elf in the theater, but I actually wanted to. When it rolled out the next holiday, I watched it and ended up watching it multiple times with multiple people that year. I can see why it was able to latch on to society. Elf is a pretty high concept comedy, but it works.
He’s not mine…
The story surprisingly curbs Ferrell’s usually adult humor. There’s no swearing and it is pretty family friendly. The movie does roll out as predicted and gets a little too “kid adventure” based at the end with the whole Central Park portion of the film. The film works best with Ferrell doing his thing exploring the North Pole and New York City with the eyes of a child.
Will Ferrell is generally hit-or-miss, but there is something about him that has energy. Elf was a perfect coming together of Ferrell and a script. The story worked with his humor and the visuals worked with his look. Love him or hate him, Elf is generally one of those movies that people can agree to accept him in. He’s backed by a good supporting cast of James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, Mary Steenburgen, Ed Asner, Peter Dinklage, and Bob Newhart as Buddy’s adopted father. Another holiday favorite Peter Billingsley (Ralphie from A Christmas Story) makes an uncredited cameo as one of Buddy’s North Pole coworkers.
Bring on the holiday cheer, Elf-Boy!
Visually the movie is very impressive. The effects of the North Pole were great. They used a lot of forced perspective like the visuals in The Lord of the Rings and it makes the scenes with the large and awkward Will Ferrell seem believable. The movie even had throwbacks to the classic old Rankin/Bass claymation like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer a Claymation sequence as Buddy heads south…plus, New York City always makes for great Christmas movies.
Check out Elf…it is fun for everyone. It is also one of those movies that year after year, it is ok to watch once…or even twice around the holidays because of Ferrell’s commitment to the role. Elf has earned its place around modern holiday classics and hopefully will have a long life.
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