It
goes without saying that the very premise of plonking a tirelessly
jovial elf-man in NYC during the holidays creates endless comedic
ammunition. 'Elf' genuinely makes me feel a little of the Christmas
spirit.
It's
a well balanced comedy, making what could have been a strong start to
a lame body a solid film throughout (though with a little too much at
the end). There are plenty of slapstick jokes for younger audiences
mixed in with the slightly more adult ones, making the comedy work on
a few levels ala 'Shrek'. The plot also juggles random sketch comedy
scenes of Buddy interacting with New Yorkers, family bonding scenes
with him and his father and half brother, work scenes with the
father's job drama, and a romance subplot with a blonde Zooey
Deschanel. While most comedies like this would either try for all of
these and fail or miss a few out, 'Elf' keeps all these elements
fairly well balanced and with the help of a solid cast the viewer
should find it easy to like everyone.
Everyone,
that is, save those evil Central Park Rangers. I find the apparently
universal understanding that they're evil to be hilarious, though I
feel like I'm missing something here (and in several other places) as
this is a very New York movie, with plenty of New York in-jokes (oh yeah, and I loved the Sasquatch recreation shot of Buddy on the news). The actual conclusion scene with Santa
just happening to crash land in Central Park to be found by Buddy
felt pretty contrived, and the whole singing for Christmas spirit
climax was a little to sugary for me, but I forgive the film over
all, as surely sickening sweetness is an integral part of this
holiday?
It's
a cute, endlessly good natured story brought to life by Will Ferrell
and a strong cast, which basically rides on the stark contrast
between Santa's North Pole elf village (the bizarrely unrealistic
style of which I enjoyed) and the magical land of New York City, and
does well for it.
Elf: 57.4