Buddy is a human who grew up living on North Pole, thinking he is one of Santa Claus' elves. One day, upon discovering the truth, Buddy sets out to meet his real father, Walter Hobbs, a publisher in New York. Upon arriving there, Buddy causes chaos, and Walter is surprised that the DNA test confirms he is Buddy's father. Walter introduces Buddy to his wife, Emily, and 12-year old son Michael. Buddy becomes friends with Jovie, a worker in a store. When Buddy accidentally calls a short writer, Miles Finch, an elf, it ruins a business agreement, causing Walter to throw Buddy out of his life. However, Buddy and Michael manage to ignite the Christmas spirit on Christmas, giving power of Santa's sleigh. Publishing Buddy's story, Walter achieves a bestseller.
Even though it was received better than the majority of the rest of his films, "Elf" is pretty much just a gentler version of a Will Ferrell comedy, meaning it is a "hit-or-miss" affair: some jokes work, some don't. And one cannot expect anything more than that. However, even though an untypical movie for him, the director Jon Favreau delivered a fun little comedy with several burlesque moments, refusing it to go into the stupid-detrimental territory of some of Ferrell's worst comedies without any criteria, whereas James Caan is neat in the rare comedy role of Walter, Buddy's dad. The best jokes arrive swiftly, such as the crazy sequence where Buddy is suspicious of an actor playing Santa Claus in a store, and tells him: "You sit on a throne of lies." But there is a major problem: with his 5-minute guest appearance as writer Miles Finch, Peter Dinklage wipes the floor with Ferrell. It is because Dinklage actually has class and dignity in a comedy, while Farrell hasn't. The said sequence is the highlight of the film, from the moment Finch is introduced as a writer who has "more classics than Dr. Seuss", through his entrance where the elevator door opens but he is not visible above the desk, up to his feisty response to Buddy who called him an "elf" ("Hey, jackweed, I get more action in a week than you've had in your entire life. I've got houses in L.A., Paris and Vail. In each one, a 70 inch plasma screen. So I suggest you wipe that stupid smile off your face before I come over there and smack it off!"). The finale is a mess, with an obligatory, tiresome "Christmas spirit" message shoehorned in, yet overall, "Elf" has just enough charm and innocent energy that it works, since the viewers are willing to forgive its weaker moments to enjoy in its stronger points.
Grade:++
No comments:
Post a Comment