Hey, hey, I'm back! Who knows for how long. Too much of me is too much of a good thing in my opinion...
Hey, hey, I'm back! Who knows for how long. Too much of me is too much of a good thing in my opinion. And that's what it's all about - opinions!
Member since:02.08.2000
Reviews:79
Members who trust:86
I have to say I am mightily surprised at the generally favourable and often glowing reviews awarded this movie. I think it fails miserably (okay, well it fails cheerfully, but it still fails). I'll now try to prove it to you and save you some money.
Buddy is a human baby who crawls into Santa's sack when he is visiting the orphanage where he has been abandoned. As Buddy grows up, well, he REALLY grows up, leaving his elfin generation behind. For some reason his adopted Dad, Papa Elf, doesn't tell Buddy that he's human although this would explain his size and his inability to make toys as efficiently as the other elves. When he discovers that his mother is dead and that his human father is oblivious to his existence, Buddy sets out to find his Dad, in New York.
Unfortunately, his Dad is on the "naughty" list! It doesn't take long for us to find out why as we see him authorising the release of a children's book despite the crucial last pages being missing, in order to save costs. Buddy has to come to terms with his own naivety as he visits the big city, reconcile with his father, and manage to win the
heart of a fair maiden AND save Christmas by helping Santa's sleigh fly as it's running low on "Christmas spirit" - as you can see, there is a whole lot of plot to this movie. Sadly, it's nearly all wasted due to, well, just not being very good actually.
The story is okay in its own predictable way but as the plot points bear out there are just too many threads for one satisfying story to stand out. Consequently, each strand is short-changed and unbelievable because it's not given enough time to develop. This also means we care little for the characters because we haven't really got to know them. This is a shame as there are some nice performances hiding there; we just don't see enough of them.
Will Ferrell plays Buddy. I'll be honest and say I'd never heard of him (he's another Saturday Night Live veteran, by the way, although that's not as much a compliment as it used to be) and while he does have a certain charm playing this fish-out-of-water character there isn't really any depth. Just why does his colleague, the attractive Jovie (Zooey Deschanel) fall in love with him? He is just SO wacky and culturally challenged that there isn't any romantic innocence there to play off. In real life, Jovie would have nothing to do with the weird guy in the elf suit and we all know it. Yes, this is a fantasy, and I'm happy to suspend my disbelief as much as the next man, and the beautiful girl being charmed by the eccentric guy is a staple of the rom-com but there just isn't enough shown to convince us she'd really fall for this elf…er, guy.
James Caan is suitably irascible as Buddy's Dad, Walter Hobbs, but as he gets to know his own son (another by-the-numbers plot development) we wonder why does his attitude change - there's nothing to justify it. Mary Steenburgen is promising as Buddy's would-be stepmom but gets virtually nothing to do. And Ed Asner as a surly Santa just gives off the wrong vibes.
The film is overly-sentimental, especially nearing the rushed climax, Some of the ideas are fine, such as Jovie having to overcome her fear of performing in public to lead a rousing impromptu session of carol-singing (don't ask) but the execution is just a little bit off. The humour is often forced and childish but it does provide a couple of decent laughs, and to be fair, the several schoolchildren in the audience with me laughed much more frequently than I did. The dialogue is functional without there being many good lines and the one swear word that I picked out was conspicuous - why didn't they just use "ticked -off" and kept everyone happy?
I suppose we have to blame director John Favreau for this. His previous work such as "Swingers" has been promising but this just seems to have been too difficult a task for him - no dishonour in that - just see Ron Howard's awful Grinch movie. The film is uneven and it's hard to see who it is meant to appeal to. The slapstick humour might amuse the younger audience but the getting-to-know Dad and romantic subplots will bore them. For us parents, well, there's just too much mediocrity for this to be entertaining.
It's not even worth seeing for the effects as they are cheap and cheerful and the North Pole sets are (deliberately?) fake looking. I hope I've managed to put you off wasting money on this but a decent guideline seems to be the trailer. If you enjoyed that then you probably will like this movie, despite everything I've said, but if, like me, you thought it looked pitiful, then give it a miss - don't be misled by other reviews!
Finally, the opinion that matters, that of my 6- and 9-year old boys. They sat through it okay and said they enjoyed it but they didn't talk about it much or play out scenes from the movie as they did with Finding Nemo, for example. At least, at a running time of 95 minutes, it doesn't exactly get boring…just not very good.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
i think your review is very good and will help people in deciding if they want to see it or not but i cant help it, i really loved this film and thought it was extremely funny. samxx
smileybabe 08.02.2004 20:56
Great review, this film's trailers didn't make me want to see it at all
Meshek 05.01.2004 18:37
The sound of this film did not inspire me. Exceptional review thank you.
Elfis genuinely good. Not justSaturday Night Live-movie good, when the movie has some ... more
funny bits but is basically an insult to humanity;Elfis a smartly written, skillfully directed, and deftly acted story of a human being adopted by Christmas elves who...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Elfis genuinely good. Not justSaturday Night Live-movie good, when the movie has some ... more
funny bits but is basically an insult to humanity;Elfis a smartly written, skillfully directed, and deftly acted story of a human being adopted by Christmas elves who...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Temporarily out of stock. Order now and we'll deliver when available. We'll e-mail you with an estimated delivery date as soon...
After inadvertently wreaking havoc on the elf community due to his ungainly size a man ... more
raised as an elf at the North Pole is sent to the U.S. in search of his true identity. This charming fantasy is packed full of hysterically funny moments and is des...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Once upon a Christmas Eve, an orphan baby crawled into Santa's bag of gifts and was taken ... more
to the North Pole. Raised by Papa Elf (Bob Newhart), Buddy (Will Ferrell) comes to realise he doesn't fit in with the other elves. Determined to find a place wher...
![Elf [DVD] [2003]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78515951.jpg "Elf [DVD] [2003]")
Dec 17th, 2003
exceptional by (8%):
very helpful by (90%):
helpful by (1%):
