Elf tickled my funny bone REVEIW

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

The story is a simple one. Buddy (Will Ferrell), an orphan infant who jumps into Santa's bag, and stows-away on Santa's sleigh, is allowed to stay with the elves, and is adopted by Papa Elf (Bob Newhart) to live an elfin life. As he gets older,he begins to discover differences between himself, and with the other elfs. As with all adopted children, a curiosity about his "real" parents grows. So it's off to New York City, where Buddy's father lives. Of course, after living his entire life in the magical North Pole, the harsh realities of New York life aren't known to Ferrell's man-child character, so there's plenty of opportunity for fish-out-of-water fun.

As he discovers the Big Apple, experiencing the city and searching for his father, (at Christmas-time of course!), he displays the exuberance of a child in a toy store. He also meets Jovie, a department-store elf played by the highly-underrated Zooey Deschannel, and falls in love with her, seeing her as a human/elf like him. Buddy's apparent goals after this chance meeting...get the girl, and connect with dad. The ending is pretty predictable, but totally enjoyable. I have to tell you, I laughed my head off during this movie. Will Ferrell....there is just something about him that cracks me up. Extremely enjoyable movie, great comedy, and formula plot that works.

Elf has a very storybook like look, while the New York scenes are loaded with color and detail. In both locales, the 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen video looks excellent. Colors are rich and vibrant, while details are solid. No compression artifacts, noise, or other distracting problems.

The audio, available in English and Spanish 5.1 surround mixes, is as good as any comedy film, with the dialogue coming across clear from the center channel, and the music bleeding into the surrounds. There's a good amount of special effects and ambient background sound that is pumped to the sides and rear. It's not the most active soundtrack, but the sound is good while still subtle. This is not a soundtrack that will have your walls cracking from deep bass effects, but it is what I call a cozy soundtrack that effective fits this genre of movie.

This is a keeper, not a rental IMO.

[kingcrim05]

I had to shut it off half way through after getting it from Blockbuster the other day. I'll give it another shot next week i guess. I love Will Ferrell (Mugatu!) but this story just dragged for me.

Although asking someone their favorite color has never been funnier.....

[topspeed]

I just saw this last night and I thought it was a better Christmas movie than The Polar Express. Very sweet plot backed by solid acting. I admit I'm a Will Farrell fan as well (Anchorman killed me!) and I thought he did an exceptional job conveying the naivity and vulnerability of a child. I also loved the north pole sets that smacked of Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer, right down to the broken ice raft.

Great movie and nice review Sir T