Elf

Christmas Day is finally here and though I am rarely one to go crazy at Christmas because I'm not really religious or a child and my birthday is quite close to it, I decided this year to review a Christmas film that I love.

For three years until June this year, I was at university in Leeds and near Christmas, we would sit together on the sofa or the kitchen table (we had a kitchen/dining room/living room) and watch Elf to get us in the Christmas spirit and it became tradition. Now that I've left university, I am intend to carry on this tradition because it brings back good memories.

Elf is the 2003 worldwide-hit Christmas film from Jon Favreau (Iron Man), starring Will Ferrell (Anchorman), James Caan (The Godfather), Zooey Deschanel (New Girl), Bob Newhart (The Big Bang Theory), and Ed Asner (Up).  This was Ferrell's first film after leaving Saturday Night Live where he was a main cast member from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s and became his breakout role.

Rating: 10

Recommended To: Anyone!  Everyone!

Favourite Characters: Buddy - he's great

Favourite Part: Buddy: Buddy the elf, what's your favorite color?

Good Points: Buddy's childlike belief; great story because it's simple; Walter's change

Bad Points: Could have explored Buddy's relationship with his new family more

Elf revolves around Buddy the elf (Ferrell) who, as a baby, crawled into Santa's (Asner) sack full of presents when he came down the chimney of the orphanage Buddy had been placed in, following his mother's death.  Upon returning to the North Pole and discovering the young stowaway, Buddy is then adopted by Papa Elf (Newhart) who raises Buddy as his own despite Buddy being human.  Due to Buddy being raised as an elf, he is ignorant to the fact that he is actually human until he feels like he doesn't fit in with the other elves.  Papa Elf and Santa tell Buddy the truth about his past and his father (Caan), Walter Hobbs, who is still alive and living in New York City and who is, shockingly, on the naughty list; Buddy then sets off to find his biological father so they can get to know one another and Buddy can find somewhere he really belongs.

Buddy's childlike belief in everything and everyone, including the goodness that is hidden DEEP down in his biological father, is extremely sweet for me and is how a child should behave, especially at this time of year, because at a young age, Christmas is a time full of beauty and wonder because of the stories that are told at this time of year.  While Buddy is thought to be too old to belief that everything is wonderful but I thought it was cute because he brought the true meaning of Christmas, being with family, to his father as his sudden disappearance towards the end causes Walter to bond with his younger son, Michael (Daniel Tay), and leave work behind to go find Buddy because they both care for him, despite him being new to their lives and turning everything upside down.

I personally think that the story is great because it's so simple which is good for a kids' film, particularly for Christmas, because it doesn't overcomplicate anything due to the main character's simple view on everything.  This makes the film great for kids as well as everyone else because it's easy to follow but still entertaining, bringing everyone together for the Christmas season.  The simplicity of the plot also makes the film easy to remember and therefore means it sticks in my mind; because it always pops up in my head and I can quote the film randomly for my own amusement.

I loved how Walter went from being an uptight book publisher, putting his work before his family, to a family man who knew he should spend more time with his sons and get to know them better.  Having studied film theories at university, I read too much into everything and found that Walter became a hero in his own right through the idea of the Hero Journey, which I won't go into because it's too much to babble about.  I love characters that develop over the course of the film because it makes them interesting and sometimes, they can be more interesting than the main character because the latter has a tendency to be the trigger for the change.

Buddy has to be my favourite character because he just is the embodiment of Christmas in this film and brings it to his new family; he also brings out the best in the characters as he gets Jovie to embrace her talent and Walter to stop being a jerk and also brings Michael out of his shell by being a sort-of father figure to him.  Plus, he doesn't behave as a thirty-something year old should which makes him entertaining because he breaks the mould.

The only thing, in my opinion, that could have improved this film would have been a bit more exploration into Buddy's developing relationship with his new family with Walter, Michael, and Emily (Mary Steenburgen) because he finally gets to feel like he belongs somewhere but we don't see it, we just see Walter finally accepting Buddy's influence on his life during a scene at Christmas.  Maybe it's because I'm curious and I find stuff like that interesting but it's not a major issue so don't worry.

Buddy: Buddy the elf, what's your favorite color?

This was just my favourite line in the entire film when Buddy answers Walter's phone because it just shows how innocent and curious Buddy is and has just stuck in my mind.  As I mentioned previously, I watched this when I was at university with my flatmates and it became how we occasionally answered the phone to one another for a few days after watching Elf which was funny.  I think everyone should answer the phone like this to someone at least once in a while, just to throw them off, especially cold callers, just because they can.

While this film is ten years old now and is a cult hit, some people may not have seen it so I encourage you to go out and rent it or search your guide because it is, without a doubt, going to be on in the Christmas season.  Thank you Buddy for teaching me that family is important at this time of year.

Related Films