Produced in 2003, Elf has become a popular favorite Christmas movie. The story begins on Christmas Eve when a baby crawls into Santa’s (Ed Asner) bag and it is not until Santa gets back to the North Pole that he notices the baby. As the surprised elves marvel over how the baby crawled into the bag, Papa Elf (Bob Newhart) agrees to raise the baby named Buddy. Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrel) grows up believing that he is an elf as he learns to do everything the elves do, despite his large size. As he becomes an adult, Buddy realizes that he does not fit in with the elves and he later finds out that he was adopted. Determined to fit in somewhere, Buddy decides to find his father, Walter Hobbs (James Caan), who lives in New York City.
When Buddy arrives in New York City, he tries convincing Walter that he is his son but Walter is unconvinced. Trying to make use of his time, Buddy then goes to a toy store believing that the actual Santa Claus is coming. He decorates the toy store all night and meets an employee named Jovie (Zooey Deschanel), with whom he falls in love. The next day, Buddy gets upset and causes trouble when the “Santa” who came to the toy store was not the real Santa. After bailing Buddy out of jail, Walter takes a DNA test which confirms that Buddy is his son. Buddy is accepted into Walter’s family with Walter’s wife (Mary Steenburgen) and his son, Michael (Daniel Tay) but shortly after this, Walter and Buddy get into an argument. As a result of the argument, Buddy runs away leaving Michael and Walter to search New York City for him. They find out that Buddy is trying to help Santa’s sleigh, broken down due to lack of Christmas spirit, get off the ground before the Central Park police catch them. To help Buddy spread Christmas spirit, Jovie faces her fear of singing in public by singing Christmas carols with a crowd in Central Park.
The movie has a variety of music with old songs like “You Make Me Feel So Young” by Frank Sinatra and newer Christmas songs like “Sleigh Ride” by Ella Fitzgerald and the Frank De Vol Orchestra. These upbeat and positive songs, combined with the beautiful decorations and lights of New York City, really bring a lively Christmas spirit to the movie.
Although it was released eight years ago, Elf is still a great movie; one that can never grow old. While originally intended as a Christmas movie for younger children, the film can be enjoyed by all ages because of Buddy’s cheerfulness, positive attitude, and love of Christmas. Will Farrell, while being hilarious and happy, definitely does an amazing job of playing Buddy the Elf because of his ability to constantly act like he loves Christmas. The movie really portrays what the Christmas spirit is all about: family, love, and spreading Christmas cheer for all to hear.
