I saw this movie today and loved every minute of it. I kind of wish I’d waited until after Thanksgiving, because it really starts the whole Christmas Spirit thing going, and I’m not sure I’m going to be able to keep it up until the end of December.
Every bit as sweet and good-natured and uplifting as your typical Christmas movie, but manages to sidestep feeling predictable or maudlin almost every step of the way. And when it does veer into predictable territory, Will Ferrell manages to knock it back into something you haven’t quite seen before. Great stuff from Bob Newhart and Amy Sedaris (although she’s underused, yet again) and Zooey Deschanel and Andy Richter and The Other Guy From Tenacious D. You’d have to be a pretty hard-hearted S.O.B. not to get a real kick out of Elf. (As evidence, I notice that the pompous moron James Bernarderelli has managed to piss on it from his website).
In fact, I’ll go a step further and say that I hope this is the first sign that we’re finally maturing out of the whole “edgy and ironic” nonsense we’ve been mired in. The tone of Elf shows that you can be referential without being mocking, earnest without being naive, sincere without being syrupy, and silly without being stupid. You don’t have to make fun of something to have fun with it. Yes, we’ve all seen the Rankin-Bass animated Christmas specials and we know how silly but memorable they were. You can pay homage to those by having the Burl Ives Snowman flinging out cuss words or by having Rudolph mow people down with a machine gun, or you can take the higher road like they did for Elf.
It was really discouraging to get home from the movie and see trailers for a different movie called Bad Santa starring Billy Bob Thornton, that looks about as bad as can be.
Would this movie be something an (almost) 4 year old would like? I’d like to take my daughter to the movies sometime before Christmas, and was wondering if this is something she would enjoy, or if it’s mainly for older kids.
A couple of “borderline inapproriate” bits. Elf gets drunk in one scene. There no profanity but there are some “profanity-adjacent” expressions used.
As to whether or not she’ll enjoy it: Lots of wacky fun and it keeps moving. It also reinforces the belief in Santa Claus. I think she’ll enjoy it all the way through. I know a 2 yr old who loved it.
I saw it on Saturday and loved it. Last fifteen minutes were a little cloying, but great stuff throughout. Very funny. Laugh ou loud funny, even.
If you plan on seeing the movie I would suggest closing your eyes and singing during the commercials though - I wish they didn’t preview so many of the good scenes. Not as bad as “meet the parents” but worth avoiding if you can help it.
Nevertheless, two thumbs up! - way…oh you get the idea.
I saw this the weekend it came out and absolutely loved it. Will Ferrell really amazes me; he managed to go from Frank the Tank in Old School to one of the most adorable movie characters I’ve seen in a long time.
Oooo! I just saw “Elf” tonight! I adored it…I too wish I had waited until after Thanksgiving to see it though - but still, it was wonderful. I laughed all the way through! Bob Newhart was hysterical. Will Ferrell was just the right mix of adorable and hilarious…I also really liked Zooey Dechannel (didn’t know her name until this thread as I’ve never seen her before!). I thought she was perfectly cast. Everyone was…Go see it!
I must have been the only one in the audience that got the obvious (to me anyway) LoTR reference. I was laughing hysterically at some of the shots and the way they were composed.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about - its the whole chase scene at the end. The park rangers are obviously meant to remind you of the Black Riders, Ringwraiths, etc.
Its about time somebody started to rip off LoTR - the Matrix parodies are beyond tiresome.
I saw it this weekend and I was bored out of my mind. I love Will Ferrell and I’m a sucker for X-Mas schmaltz, but this was a fifteen-minute idea painfully stretched out to almost two hours. The last thirty minutes or so was just a mess. And you’ve got a potentially hilarious supporting cast – Bob Newhart, Amy Sidaris, Andy Richter, Kyle Gass, etc. – and they’re not funny!
I don’t begrudge anyone liking it, of course. My girlfirend loved it, and I did laugh quite a bit for the first twenty minutes or so, until my Elf-esteem took a hit and the laughter turned to eye rolling.
I saw Elf this weekend and I admit, as a teenager who watched Will Ferrell on SNL, I was not disappointed. Some of the gags are funny, and his physical comedy is always hilarious. I wasn’t a fan of the ending, but I wasn’t expecting that kind of movie when I walked in. It is definitely worth seeing for Will’s hilarious acting, not just for taking your kids to see.
