Elf

Hey everyone, it’s December. You know what that means. CHRISTMAS!!!!! It’s a holiday that everyone eagerly awaits for every year. Christmas has everything: the tree, the stockings, the carols, snow, presents, the great food, and even those timeless Christmas movies that will never be outdated. Just like how ABC Family always does their 25 day countdown until Christmas, I will be doing the same thing this month. I will be reviewing 25 Christmas classics that you should watch, and ones that you should avoid. Let’s not waste any time, let’s get started with one of my personal favorite Christmas specials, the 2003 film, “Elf.”

The late Roger Ebert described this movie as, “one of those rare Christmas comedies that has a heart, a brain and a wicked sense of humor, and it charms the socks right off the mantelpiece.” He was absolutely right because when I saw this movie on “On Demand,” I just had such a happy feeling when I was done watching it. The casting is just great. Comedian Will Ferrell, who is a graduate from Saturday Night Live (SNL), plays a human who thinks that he is an elf. Comedian Bob Newhart is Ferrell’s adoptive father. One of the greatest actors, James Caan, plays Ferrell’s biological mother and Mary Steenburgen plays Caan’s wife. Singer Zooey Deschanel plays Jovie, a department store worker who Ferrell falls in love with. Faizon Love is Santa’s elf manager, and Peter Dinklage, who played a dwarf in “The Station Agent,” has a small scene where he fights Ferrell. What a great cast lineup for such amazing roles.

“Elf” was directed by the great Jon Favreau and was written by David Berenhaum. The story begins with Santa at an orphanage home delivering presents when a baby orphan crawls into Santa’s bag. This causes the baby to go with Santa to the North Pole, where he is raised by Papa Elf, played by Newhart. This baby grows up to be Buddy, played by Ferrell, who knows that he is at least four feet taller than most of the other elves, and eventually travels to New York City, where Santa, played by Edward Anser, tells Buddy that is where Buddy can find his biological father.

Meet Walter, played by Caan, a hard-bitten publisher who is not the least bit surprised or happy when Buddy walks into his office telling him that Buddy’s his son. That is until Buddy tells Walter the name of Walter’s long-lost girlfriend, and Buddy is invited home. Walter’s wife, Emily, played by Steenburgen, proves to the viewers that she is the only actress in the world who could welcome Walter’s elf son into the family, and prove to us that she means it.

The plot is pretty standard, involving a crisis at Walter’s publishing firm since he needs a best-selling children’s book, but there are very nice subplots involving Buddy’s little brother Michael, played by Daniel Tay, and his romance with the department store girl Jovie, played by Deschanel. Plus there is some unfinished business up at the North Pole.

One of the funniest scenes in the movie is when Buddy spots a department store Santa, played by comedian Artie Lange, and instantly calls him an imposter. He tells the store Santa, “You sit on a throne of lies!”

Ebert admits, “Indeed the whole world has grown too cynical, which is why Santa is facing an energy crisis this year.” Santa’s sleigh is powered by faith, and if enough people don’t believe in Santa, it won’t fly. That leads to one of the scenes where the sleigh does not have enough takeoff velocity to fly. This looks like a job for a human who thought that he was an elf for most of his life to make people believe in Santa. It should be easy.

I have to admit this is a very heartwarming movie that you should watch to build up to Christmas, and I think you’ll love it. I have to give this a solid 10, it’s one of my absolute favorite Christmas specials.

Stay tuned tomorrow when I continue my 25 days of Christmas reviews.