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| Elf
Directed By: Jon
Favreau Plot
Summary - Review 1 - Review
2 - CURRENT REVIEWS
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| After inadvertently wreaking havoc on the elf community due to his ungainly size, a man raised as an elf at the North Pole is sent to the U.S. in search of his true identity. [TRAILER] “Elf” is the true test of Will Ferrell’s career. Best known for his work on “Saturday Night Live” and recently for his side part in the mediocre comedy, “Old School” (although Ferrell was the only successful aspect of that weak production), “Elf” puts the comedian alone at center stage. The good news is that he is the best part of this uneven, but strangely sweet, family comedy. “Elf” projects an innocence that is to be admired. While so many comedies – even family comedies such as “Scooby Doo” – must resort to shock humor and comedic bits of the lowest common denominator, “Elf” stays true to its simple premise. Buddy (Ferrell) is one of Santa’s elves, content with his life of making toys day in and day out at the North Pole. He starts to notice the he is not like the other elves; not as good at making toys and nearly twice their size. When he questions his father (Bob Newhart) about his abnormalities, he learns that he is not an elf, but rather a human boy who snuck his way back to the Pole in Santa’s sack, and has been living there ever since. “Elf” is mostly about Buddy’s trip into the real world to find his birth father, Warren (James Caan). Warren is a bitter businessman; the last man one would expect to openly embrace a six-foot elf claiming to be his son. And sure enough, the humor of the film derives from Buddy’s inability to fit into this cold, bitter and cynical world. Ferrell has the manic energy of a kid who never grew up, and Buddy provides him the opportunity of playing just that part. He was memorable in “Old School” because he was the one actor who had the energy and even insanity reminiscent of John Belushi in “Animal House.” That movie was about old men wanting to return to frat life, and Ferrell always looks like he would be the life of any frat party. In “Elf,” he brings an innocence and naivety to his part that is not only engaging, but actually rather cute. In one moment, as bored and ambivalent department store employees grudgingly get ready for a Santa appearance the next day, Ferrell explodes into a frenzy. “Santa’s coming, Santa’s coming!” he yells, and works through the night to get the toy section of the store looking just right. In another scene, he convinces a co-worker (Zooey Deschanel) to go on a date only to take her to a diner which claims to have the world’s best coffee (“It’s the best in the world!”), and then to central park where they go ice skating, hand-in-hand. These moments are entertaining, and even endearing, exactly because Ferrell is a grown-up acting like an idealistic, exuberant, ten year-old boy. He is the holiday spirit personified, and he is such a ball of optimism and joy that one cannot help but laugh when he screams that the mall Santa is an “imposter!” to dozens of horrified boys and girls. It is also important to note Newhart’s performance, as Papa Elf. He opens the film, dressed in full elf attire, and his opening droll sets the stage perfectly for the off-kilter story to follow. While “Elf” is rated PG for “mild rude humor and language,” I found myself surprised by its lack of cheap laughs. It is not a comedy of gross-outs, but one that contrasts optimism with pessimism, idealism with cynicism, and its best moments are not only funny, but also a bit inspirational. Buddy’s happiness is out of place in New York City, and rather than simply laugh at it, I think deep down we all wish more people could be like him. And so it is that this quirky, charming, sweet little episode will leave you with a smile. Sure, it is not that well-written, nor is it that profound or meaningful. More than once, the strings of the plot become transparent as characters interact awkwardly and the story lurches forward. But it is Ferrell, with his buffoonish smile and his high-pitched, perfectly-pronounced dialogue, and the movie’s unabashedly euphoric presentation of yuletide cheer, that manage to reach soft spots in the heart that most other comedies don’t even know exist.   Check out Reviews, Commentary, and More at Zertinet.com |
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