12 Days of Christmas; Movie Blog Style.
On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me: Elf (2003)
OK I know I’m cheating with this one by back dating it for yesterday and all I have to say is “Christmas Party”. My head is pounding with youltide this morning but I will remain semiprofessional and get the job done.
It took me two years before I was finally able to see Elf starring Will Ferrell. My appreciation for Ferrell has grown considerable in the last few years with movies like Old School and Anchorman, but I remained hesitant with Elf because it just looked so damn cheesy. Now that I have seen it I can tell you that it is cheesy, but non the less still a good Christmas movie.
Directed by Jon Favreau, this story of a human raised by elves in the North Pole who one day decides to travel to New York City searching for his true father (played by James Caan) is silly funny, sweet and carries a good Christmas message.
I will admit I thought the film started off on the slow side. The primer is set in the North Pole, with Buddy the Elf trying to fit in with all the other workers. The North Pole is very retrospective to the old stop motion Christmas specials from the 80’s -from what I remember from the 80’s-, which is OK but boarders on the very cheesy side. The story picks ups when Buddy finds out he is not an elf but a human who was adopted by an elf elder (played by Bob Newhart) 30 years prior. Buddy decides to travel to NYC to find his real father who happens to be on the naughty list. From here we head to the great and wonderful NYC -I love NYC-. This is were I begin laughing out loud. Watching this elf out of snow discover things in the streets of the city that never sleeps has hysterical moments. He doesn’t understand anything or anyone and his joyful manner isn’t always a perfect fit in his new environment. Congratulating a coffee shop on having the “worlds best cup of coffee”, getting sick in a rotating door and eating used gum stuck on the subway railing are just a few of his adventures.
Buddy finally tracks down his father in the Empire State building working as a children’s book publisher. Buddy’s father Walter is a workaholic who fails to spend time with his family and the Christmas spirit is the farthest thing from his mind. Buddy isn’t exactly embraced by his father at first which lands Buddy in a department store. Enter the love interest Jovie who is played by Zooey Deschanel. Zooey is a babe in this movie. Just the right look, attitude and signing voice to form a 45 minute crush on her. Although the date sequence in the film is silly, it still touches you and perhaps gives you a few good date ideas for next week.
As Buddy and Walter’s relationship progresses there are a handful of funny scenes with Ferrell and Mary Steenburgen who plays the Mom and the rest of Walter’s family. Syrup for one, Buddy loves to put syrup on everything.
Buddy’s welcome expires which forces him to run away. While crying in Central Park he finds Santa (played by Ed Asner) and has to find ways to fix his sleigh. Ending with a Christmas moment, which if you’re not careful just may choke you up a bit -of course I was smoking mistletoe with my sister’s boyfriend at the time-.
Elf has a star packed cast and also holds a list of great cameo’s and small roles. People like Artie Lange, Andy Richter, Kyle Gass (Tenacious D) and Peter Billingsley (dude it’s Ralphie).
Elf is a fun movie. You will enjoy the physical comedy of Ferrell, the faces and the touching moments. Silly as it may be, I’m glad I finally sat through it and I learned “that the best way to spread Chrismas cheer, is to sing loud for all to hear“. Hit it John and Doug.
