Elf

The Film

Poor Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrell) wishes so badly that he could be just like the others. But something about him is simply different. He can’t build toys like the other elves, and he’s outrageously disproportionate within his seemingly-miniaturized surroundings. Buddy has never even considered the possibility that he might not be an Elf at all—he’s actually human—until overhearing the conversation of two fellow elves. Papa Elf (Bob Newhart) explains that he stowed away from an orphanage as a baby into Santa’s (Ed Asner’s) sack, and thus he was adopted by the charitable elves living there and raised as one of their own (there’s plenty of great sight gags to be had here, nearly all of which center on the fact that Buddy is twice the size of every other elf). Papa Elf tells him of his true father, who actually lives in New York City—and also happens to have a remarkable affinity for the naughty list.

So, after years of subtle rejection and self-doubt, Buddy sets off for New York in search of his dad, Walter Hobbs (James Caan). He encounters him working as an executive at a children’s book publisher, where we join him chastising a nun and threatening to repossess their stock of books thanks to their missing payments. Try as he might, Buddy, in all his carefree joviality, simply can’t seem to win his father’s affection. Walter rejects him time and time again until eventually coming to grips with the fact that he’s actually kin to him—and struggling to tolerate his antics. Meanwhile, Buddy manages to land a job at a local toy store and catch the (puzzled) eye of a cutie coworker, Jovie (Zooey Deschanel).

A Modern Christmas Classic?

Ferrell is positively hilarious as Buddy, sporting a relentless naïveté and completely unfettered by the coldness of true society. His efforts to impress both his workaholic father and his jaded crush at the department store are highly entertaining in a way that only Ferrell can provide. Meanwhile, the supporting cast is equally impressive; Bob Newhart is charming as the storyteller in his own matter-of-fact way, and Ed Asner and James Caan fill their roles with style. Zooey Deschanel also proves to be a good pick for Jovie, who transitions rather dramatically from bitter store employee to cheery female companion.

We also are met with plenty of homage to classic Christmas staples. Elves build everything from Etch-A-Sketches to high-end computer graphics chips and the North Pole is populated by familiar stop-motion animation creatures—it’s all very surreal and it leverages a great deal of nostalgia in its quest for humor.

Is Elf original? Well, yes, in some ways. But to be honest, it’s the synergy of its more predictable parts—the lovable and happy-go-lucky Buddy, the humorous mismatch of character and setting, the “spirit of Christmas” revival—that makes it so unique. This is a family-friendly flick that’s worth its weight in comedy; both children and adults will find themselves entertained and smiling frequently, and that’s something that’s becoming less and less common these days. Jon Favreau has done a masterful job of balancing clever storytelling with well-placed sight gags and frequent surprises. The result is a film that’s not only suitable for all ages, but compelling in its own right. While it does fizzle a bit nearing the end, as a whole, this is a package that anyone looking for holiday cheer and a good bit of Ferrell-induced laughs will appreciate.

Special Features

Elf isn’t packed with special features, but what is included is good stuff.

• Commentary by Director Jon Favreau – As is typically the case with any director’s commentary, we receive plenty of behind-the-scenes tidbits here. Favreau describes the types of decisions he and his staff made to try and keep the mood of the film perfectly in line with what it needed to be to qualify as a timeless Christmas classic.

• Commentary by Will Ferrell – It’s strange, because every time Ferrell does an interview or anything of the sort, he’s always so much more down-to-earth than you’d expect. Not that it’s a bad thing, but his commentary, while definitely insightful, really isn’t all that funny. I almost think I’d have rather had Favreau and Ferrell together on a collaborative track than separate, as it would have probably made for a more interesting supplement. Either way, Ferrell’s commentary is worth a listen as well as it provides insight from a different perspective.

• Documentaries – This is a collection of individual segments which are better played together for continuity. Around half of them are your classic behind-the-scenes mini-docs where we follow around an actor or cast member or sit down with some of the cast. The rest of the featurettes are more for kids, with Film School for Kids standing out as the best of the bunch in that regard. There’s right around an hour and a half of these in all. Here’s a list of what you get:

• Tag Along with Will Ferrell

• Film School for Kids

• How They Made the North Pole

• Lights, Camera, Puffin!

• That’s a Wrap…

• Kids on Christmas

• Deck the Halls

• Santa Maria

• Christmas in Tinseltown

• Fact Track – This is your typical alternate subtitle collection of tidbits, many of which aren’t really related so much to the movie as they simply are Christmas. For instance, did you know that the term X-mas actually stems from the Greek word for “Christ”, Xristos?

• Focus Points – This is a Blu-ray exclusive feature that disperses making-of videos and other featurettes throughout the film. When you see the disc symbol, you press Enter to bring up a related video featurette. As usual, it’s a pretty cool addition to the package, but much of the material is recycled from other featurettes.

• Elf Karaoke – Squarely for kids, of course, this is three karaoke songs—We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Deck the Halls, and Jingle Bells—set against a backdrop of scenes from the film, and complete with on-screen vocals, of course.

• Additional Scenes (with optional Commentary by Director Jon Favreau) – This is a collection of eight scenes that were cut from the film. I’m glad they were, but if you watch these with the commentary turned on, you get a pretty good sense of how stringent the team was about what types of material did and did not fit the film.

• Trailer