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 was 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 didn’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