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But this year, I broke my own rule because of a weakness for some guy named Will Ferrell. I have never laughed so hard at Saturday Night Live as I had when Will Ferrell was the premiere cast member. He seemed to bat cleanup on the show, knocking all of his skits out of the park and he appeared to be destined for movie greatness. His first starring vehicle, Elf, has been on my radar since I heard about it earlier this year. It was necessary to see it opening night, and so I did.
Elf is the story of an orphan boy named Buddy who accidentally hitches a ride with Santa Claus (Edward Asner) one Christmas morning. Santa, being all knowing, finds out that the boy's mother is dead and his father is on the "Naughty List". He decides to keep the boy around and make him an honorary elf under the care of his oldest elf, Pappy (played by Bob Newhart).
Buddy is not the smartest boy, but loves his job and is full of Christmas spirit year 'round, like a good elf should be. He begins to put two and two together after he realizes that he's not like the other elves. As a matter of fact, they are 2/3 his size. After a talk with Santa and Pappy, he discovers that he's human and wants to meet his real father, Walter (James Caan). Buddy sets off to find his father in New York City.
Once Buddy arrives, he appears to be utterly insane. I mean, the guy is walking around town wearing tights and a pointy hat! When Buddy meets Walter at the Empire State Building, where he is a children's book editor, Walter is under the impression that it's some kind of joke and has Buddy ejected from the building. Later, it's proven that they are indeed father and son, so Walter takes Buddy in. While his wife, Emily (Mary Steenburgen), and son, Michael (Daniel Tay), fall in love with Buddy right out of the gate, Walter is still apprehensive about the boisterous and annoying "elf", not buying his North Pole stories. It becomes a quest for Buddy to win the love of his father and, in a strange turn of events, save Christmas at the same time.
While I was just hoping to laugh my ass off at one of my favorite comedians, I ended up doing so AND gaining a new favorite Christmas film. My annual Holy Grail of Christmas films consists of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Scrooged and, of course, A Christmas Story. I can't get through the holiday season without watching all three at least once. Now, I add Elf to that list.
Ferrell is remarkable in his role as an adult suffering from arrested development, desperately seeking the love of his father and keeping the spirit of Christmas alive. One of the subplots of the movie was that Santa's sleigh has been on the fritz in recent years. The sleigh is powered by people believing in the fat man and in Christmas. However, with belief dwindling and spirit subsiding, Santa has had to resort to a jet engine built by Pappy. It's an interesting commentary on how Christmas has gone by the wayside and doesn't hold the magic that it used to. Perhaps it's because we are all adults now and we know the secrets of the season. Or perhaps it's because we are all cynical crabs that see the season as more of a hindrance than a time of celebration. It made me ashamed of myself for looking down on a season that I held so dear as a child and ashamed of those who make the season a drag for everyone else.
To sum the film up as a whole, the direction and acting are superb. Jon Favreau (Swingers, Made) directs and proves that he's no one trick pony behind the camera. He intertwines classic stop motion animation at the North Pole (including Leon Redbone as Leon the Snowman) with the live action hustle and bustle of New York. He does a bang-up job and shows great promise as a director of substance.
The supporting roles by Steenburgen, Tay and Caan are excellent, as is Zooey Daschnel who plays the crush of one oversized elf. She glows in this film and you can't take your eyes off of her, plus she has an exquisite singing voice. She will melt your heart. And Will Ferrell completely shocked me at how he managed to carry the film and never seem uncomfortable. It was as if he had carried films for decades. He deserves great notice for his execution of the elf role. Amazing.
I left the theater truly looking forward to Christmas for the first time in a decade. It also made me want to believe in Santa Claus again. I felt childlike at the end of the film and I couldn't stop smiling all the way home. It's a film to see again and again. And I will...every Christmas season from here on out.
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