Elf (2003)

Elf (2003) is summed up with one word. Hint is in the movie title. For me Elf is nostalgic for it is one of the only movies all teachers seem to have in mind of showing pupils at Christmas although everyone knew that they had seen it... already... just a day ago. Elf is the impish little movie that persists in sticking its fingers into every school year's December movie night and inevitably is always found on Netflix with the arrival of Christmas cheer.

The movie itself is not exceptional in many ways, for the most part it is a standard, generic tale of an orphan, of the north pole and worlds beyond his own. The movie follows the life and career of a misfit elf called 'Buddy' who could not in the history of modern cinema be played by anyone other than the legend Will Ferrell himself. As Buddy grows up, he begins to realise his differences to the elves he lives with. You might too if you consider why the shower cubicle does not even go high as your shoulders. Along with some subtle encouragement, Buddy decides to take a leap of faith (so cliche) and head off to the new and orderly land of America, to find his father Walter (James Caan), whom his naive instinct assures him will take in a fully grown clown wearing permanent Christmas attire, possessing a repertoire of essential life skills such as producing snowballs faster than one can blink and drinking an entire 2 litre bottle of coke in one helping (burp).

Elf is wild, funny and loud, we see these characteristics through the bright infectious laughter, vibrant colours and even the Christmas cheer that goes round and round. Even Will himself, is one of the greatest sources of laughter as he portrays Buddy with a impish vigor. My personal opinion on elf is quite positive, and It is a good movie, however the shine and originality of Elf begins to fade after 3 viewings, and even more after 5. Despite this it might just be my taste, as for some reason Elf has endured years of replays ever since 2003.

My main reason for demoting Elf from 4 stars is that despite being a good cheerful movie, the storyline seems empty as only Buddy singularly drives the plot, similar to the backbone role of Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. I can see it, you can see it, should Jon Faverou make a sequel, we are certainly doomed to lose the authenticity and humorous quality of Elf.

A point of external criticism of elf is that it delivers quite a mixed and overused message, relating to the decline of 'Christmas cheer', and that elf is a bad impression on children. As for the first I can only state it has become a feature bound so tight to Christmas movies - I challenge Spielberg to make a movie Christmas film without relating to such a theme. For the latter I only dismiss as irrelevant; Elf is a harmless bit of fun, clearly differentiating as a satirical snipe at the cynical, false, and money motivated world of adults instead of a violent rude film not suitable for children that upset critics describe it as. Once again I emphasize that elf is ineffably a classic, and considering the weak opposition of alternatives, pointless CGI animated Santas and irksome elves, can hardly beat the good old live action, brought by Ferrell at his best.