How can Christmas ever go by without watching this bit of movie gold. I actually hated it the first time I watched it, but I learnt to love it for what it is. I had a funny experience seeing this in the cinema. It was my brother's 8th birthday and my Mum and I took him and a group of his friends. What's wrong with that you ask? It was the middle of January. To this date I don't know why it was still showing!
Buddy the Elf a normal sized human is raised in the North Pole as an Elf but his size wreaks havoc on the small community. Soon he is sent to the US to find his real father but finds it harder to fit in, in the real world than he anticipated.
This is by far the silliest, most random, off the wall Christmas movie going but that is what I love about it. You have to watch it with no expectations and try to switch your brain off completely so you just see the funny side of it all. I'm not a huge Will Ferrell fan, in fact I usually hate films he is in (don't shout at me but I really dislike Anchorman, I think its massively overrated and not in the least bit funny!) but this tugs on my Christmassy heart strings and some of the one liners in it are amazing. "Santa's Coming? I know him" probably more about how it's said than the actual lines haha!
I love Will Ferrell already, but it's definitely the over the top 'ness' of it all that makes Elf so funny. It's so quotable as well, I really can't help but shout 'I know him!' when the name Santa is mentioned!
The story is ok, but it is overshadowed by Ferrell's overpowering verbal and physical comedy, much of the time the story is forgotten over an elaborate comedy sketch. For me, that may be what makes it likeable, it's extremely easy to watch, you don't even really need to follow the story just enjoy gag after gag. The escalator scene being my personal favourite:
Not the greatest story on Earth but certainly an entertaining jaunt perfect for watching while wrapping presents or with family (safe for kids as well as Dad, the train and planes!)
This is one of my personal favourites and I hope I can find to watch it this year before the big day!
This has to be the best Christmas film since turn on the millennium
ReplyDeleteI love Elf so much. It's my favorite Christmas movie. Just did a post on it myself. This is one case where a director actually seems to be directing Will Ferrell. It doesn't happen much, and it's one of the reasons this movie works so well.
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