Elf (Will Ferrell)

(Amazon UK link)

It’s unusual for me to watch more than one film in a week. Almost unheard of two days in a row, but that’s what we decided to do in this post-Christmas week, when we’re both tired, it’s cold out, and we’re both feeling in need of some light-hearted entertainment.

So, what better than the Christmas movie ‘Elf’? I had seen this recommended many times but had not acquired it until a few weeks ago. We knew little about it, other than that it featured Will Ferrell as an oversized elf… but we don’t mind a bit of surreality and hope it would be fairly undemanding.

It opens with an introduction by Papa Elf (Bob Newhart), explaining what elves do, and how they all aspire to work in Santa’s toy factory at the North Pole. Until thirty years ago, he said, no human had ever set foot in the factory. Then the scene shifts back to a baby, put to bed by a nun in an orphanage, when Santa arrives with a sack of presents. The baby manages to climb out of his cot and crawl into the sack of toys, and is thus transported to the factory where Papa Elf offers to raise him.

The baby is known as Buddy, and never really understands why he’s so much bigger than all his friends, yet slower at making toys. He overhears a worrying conversation, then at last his father tells him the truth. Buddy sets out to the magical city of New York, to find his biological father.

Buddy’s father Walter (James Caan) had no idea that Buddy even existed. He’s a somewhat grumpy workaholic who has little time for his wife or son Michael. And Buddy is not just overly cheerful and somewhat hyperactive, he’s extremely naive. He has no idea how to interact with people… but he does have immense skill at Christmas decorating.

So yes, reality had to be suspended, and we didn’t worry too much about the strange visual effects that looked extremely old-fashioned. The film was made in 2003 and that’s really the only part that dates it. The acting is good, the resulting chaos and confusion quite amusing at times, and in the end it’s a feel-good encouraging story with an exciting climax as Santa’s sleigh stops working due to the lack of Christmas spirit.

There are places where the story doesn’t entirely hold together: Santa, after all, had been in his workshop, but no mention is made of whether he is human. He appears as more like Buddy than like the elves, but perhaps he’s a race apart. Buddy’s travels from the North Pole to New York are equally glossed over. He wears his elf suit and sits on a bit of floating ice, then somehow ends up in New York looking as fresh as ever. What did he eat? Where does he find money to buy things? Where does he keep his money, given that he has no baggage…?

I suppose the film is most often seen by families. Having said that, if a child still believes in Father Christmas, and hasn’t raised any questions, it might be best not to see this just yet. While there’s a ‘real’ Santa in the film, many questions are asked about why people don’t believe, and a ‘fake’ Santa, in a shopping mall, is unmasked. And the rating is PG rather than U, as there are one or two minor instances of bad language, and a few subtle innuendoes. I suspect they would go right over a child’s head, but as the rating suggests, parental guidance is recommended.

I thought it a good film overall, one that we’ll most likely see in another two or three years during the festive period, and would recommend it to anyone building up a collection of Christmas movies.

Review copyright 2022 Sue's DVD Reviews

The Town that Cancelled Christmas (Matt McCoy)

(Amazon UK link)

Browsing a while ago for Christmas films, I came across recommendations for ‘The Town that Cancelled Christmas’. It sounded intriguing so I put it on my wishlist, and was given it for Christmas. We decided to watch it last night, with little idea what to expect.

The story starts when a couple called Norbert (Matt McCoy) and Maddie (Jane Sibbett) move into a house in a small town (I would have called it a village) called Greenlaw, in the United States.

They and their young teenage son Kevin (Hunter Gomez) are quickly welcomed by their neighbours, most of whom I had a hard time remembering, but the significant one is Donny (Adam Ferrara) who is very proud of having won a Christmas award, every year, for the best decorated house.

When Norbert hears this, he says that he has previously won a similar award in other towns - it’s fairly obvious that he’s either making this up or exaggerating, since he and his wife can’t even agree where they last lived; his son later mentions to Donny’s daughter that his father actually hates Christmas and has never decorated anywhere.

Norbert is a writer, although he doesn’t seem to get much writing done and Maddie is becoming increasingly frustrated with him. His book is about human behaviour, but he tells his new neighbours that it’s about orang-utans, not wanting them to be nervous around him.

There’s a lot of humour in the film, including a couple of places where we chuckled aloud - it’s ridiculous, of course, as is the increasing bizarreness and tawdriness of Donny’s outside display, as he determines to retain his title and crown. And when nobody can agree whose decorations are best, the story becomes increasingly silly, but still quite amusing as everything to do with Christmas is banned, and a truck drives through slowly removing trees, decorations, and everything else that might be connected.

It’s not the greatest acting. I don't think we had ever previously heard of any of the cast. But as a light evening’s entertainment it served its purpose well. The plot certainly isn’t predictable, and if some of the situations are increasingly unbelievable - including the ending - it doesn’t much matter; it's light-hearted, warm, and amusing.

I’m a bit surprised to realise that the rating is 12 as I don’t recall any bad language, nudity, or violence other than a few minor (and evidently choreographed) incidents. I can’t imagine it would be of any interest to children; other than two teenagers who are probably about fourteen, the cast are all adults. But I would have rated it PG.

Overall I thought it a good film to add to our Christmas collection, one that we’ll almost certainly watch again in two or three years’ time. It was apparently made in 2006 but feels older, somehow. I had a hard time tuning into the accents for the first few minutes of the film, but don't think I lost anything before I was able to understand them.

(The film is called ‘A Merry Little Christmas’ in some parts of the world).

Review copyright 2022 Sue's DVD Reviews

The Christmas Shoes (Rob Lowe)

(Amazon UK link)

I was browsing in a charity shop on a brief visit to the UK when I spotted a whole box of Christmas DVDs, priced at one pound each. I didn’t have enough space, so selected just three of them, based on the blurbs on the back. We decided to watch ’The Christmas Shoes’ last night, with no idea whether it would be ultra-fluffy, or a bit magical, or perhaps a little more thought-provoking.

What we didn’t expect was a very poignant film that brought tears to our eyes towards the end. The viewpoint character is a high-powered American lawyer called Robert (Rob Lowe). He is fond of his young teenage daughter Lily (Amber Marshall) and keeps promising that he’ll leave work in time to get to the concerts where she’s singing. But he gets caught up in work, determined to make more and more money, so that they can buy a bigger, more luxurious house. Robert’s wife Kate (Maria del Mar) has been at home with Lily for some years and although she’s considering going back to work, she’s not keen. She would prefer to volunteer at Lily’s school.

Running alongside the scenes involving this little family are scenes from another family, less well-off but much more contented. Maggie (KImberly Williams-Paisley) is happily married to Jack (Hugh Thompson) who is a car mechanic. They have a young son called Nathan (Max Morrow). It’s clear from the start that Maggie isn’t well; she gets out of breath easily, and very tired. She works as a volunteer at Lily’s school, and directs their choir which is currently rehearsing Christmas songs.

As for the shoes of the title, they’re first seen falling off the back of a truck, and rescued by Robert. He eventually returns them to the store, where they’re seen by young Nathan who wants to buy his mother something special. Maggie, it turns out, has a very serious health condition and there’s probably nothing that can be done to save her.

The film is beautifully made, with some excellent singing, and we were particularly impressed with the child Nathan, who is entirely believable as a boy who is hoping and praying that his mother will survive, but fearful that she won’t. He’s generous, courageous and full of determination. It was some of his scenes that I found the most moving.

I thought it was quite clever the way that the two families had a lot of connections, yet never really got to know each other; Maggie and Kate do become friends as Kate starts taking over the choir; in addition, Robert’s mother lives next door to the teacher who works with Maggie, and Robert’s car is repaired by Maggie’s husband Jack. Towards the end Robert has a connection with Nathan, too, but they remain two separate families. Even at the end of the film, in a kind of epilogue, a possible connection doesn’t happen.

The film is twenty years old, and underlying it is a low-key Christian message about the real meaning of Christmas; there’s no mention of Lily’s school being a private or specifically Christian one, but since American state schools don’t do Christmas carols, other than entirely secular seasonal songs, I assume it must have been a private school.

It made a good film to see in December, one which I’m sure we’ll watch again in a few year’s time. I don't think I'd heard of any of the actors before, but was impressed with them all.

Definitely recommended if you like this kind of slightly schmaltzy film.

Review copyright 2022 Sue's DVD Reviews