Anthony's Film Review

A funny and charming comedy about family and the true meaning of Christmas...

Elf is a movie combining several themes: a character finding his real family, a character from another culture enters a new place, and a character teaching something to people in a foreign place. Will Ferrell is Buddy, a human raised by elves in the North Pole because he crawled into Santa's bag as a baby and accidentally got carried away. All of his life, he has learned that every day is like Christmas. There's that one big day in December, but every other day, including December 26, is spent preparing for that big day the following year. It's a huge job. Children all over the world deserve toys, and these elves spend their days making them. Buddy's job is to test them.

Buddy feels sad about not doing the work as well as the elves, not to mention that he's four times taller. That is when he is told about his real parents, who live in New York. He also learns the other shocking fact: his father is on the Naughty List. With that, he journeys to New York by foot. Surprisingly, not too many people question this man in the elf suit, even if Buddy does do weird things like spinning around a revolving door many times. And while he explores other parts of the city, he finds his way into a department store, where funny scenes take place with a department store Santa and a pretty woman in an elf costume.

Then Buddy meets his family. The father denies the possibility that Buddy is a son from a previous marriage. His wife is open to it. And the young boy in the house feels weird in Buddy's presence, but the two get along over time. Buddy also goes to work with his father at a children's book publisher. That's where Buddy does some unusual things either in front of his father or in another part of the building. The whole movie is about Buddy trying to get along with his family and bringing Christmas spirit to the people he sees.

As for Will Ferrell, he's not a bad choice to play this human elf. He knows how to be funny and likable in just about any role he's given. Elf also proves that he can also do family films. This is one of those cases where you just cannot think of anyone else who could play the same role better. The performance feels just right.

Elf is not a bad movie to celebrate the holiday season in any year. Heck, it's not even a bad movie for any other day in the year. It's a fun movie that should make just about everyone smile at least once. It's a good movie choice for the whole family. Now that's what I call Christmas spirit.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about Elf, visit the Internet Movie Database.