ELF is a good family film. It’s not the greatest holiday flick, but it warms the heart nonetheless. The ever-talented Will Ferrell plays Buddy, a human who as a baby accidentally wanders into Santa’s bag and gets taken to the North Pole. Upon discovering the boy, Santa (Ed Asner, TV’s THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW) decides to keep the orphan and allow Papa Elf (Bob Newhart, TV’s NEWHART) to raise him as an elf.
Buddy clearly does not fit in being over six feet tall. At 30, Papa Elf reveals to Buddy that he is indeed a human and that his biological father, Walter (James Caan, THE GODFATHER), lives in New York City, but doesn’t know that Buddy exists. Buddy with his childlike optimism heads off to meet his dad and start a glorious relationship from the moment they meet. But what Buddy discovers is that Walter is “on the bad list.” Eventually Buddy meets his stepmother Emily (Mary Steenburgen, WHAT’S EATING GILBERT GRAPE?) and stepbrother Michael (Daniel Tay, AMERICAN SPLENDOR). It takes them a little while to warm up to Buddy in his elf clothes, but they soon fall for his charm, as does Gimbel’s employee Jovie (Zooey Deschanel, THE GOOD GIRL).
ELF has an old-fashioned RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER feel to it that works well. The story is good, but it tries to have too much. It divides its time between the father/son relationship and Buddy’s romance with Jovie. The romance is developed enough, but the emotional turns in Walter seem abrupt because he doesn’t spend that much time with Buddy.
On the positive side, Ferrell carries the film with an infectious performance. There’s a cameo by Peter Dinklage (THE STATION AGENT) as a stuck-up children’s writer that provides the funniest scene in the film. For some good, clean holiday cheer this movie will not let you down.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
