The movie Elf was released November 7, 2003, the movie was made with a cast of 60 members, but the main cast was Will Ferrell, James Caan, Bob Newhart, Edward Asner, Mary Steenburgen, Zooey Deschanel and Daniel Tay.
The story is about a human baby raised by elves. One Christmas when Santa was out of distributing gifts, a baby named buddy crawls into Santa’s toy bag and by mistake he goes to the North Pole.Where he is adopted by elves and raised as an elf. Buddy grows to be three times the size of his elf family so he decides to go to his birthplace of New York City to find out about his birth parents.
Buddy’s father play out with predictable holiday failure. James Caan, who plays Ferrell’s long lost dad, is a generic Scrooge caricature with no time for family or Christmas joy. Of course Buddy works his magic on him, and well you can figure out the rest. Taking a cue from a guy named Ernest, Buddy saves it, bringing sappy love and happiness to all the world in a scene which in any other movie might have been sickening, but in Elf turns out to be wonderfully genuine and heartwarming.
My favorite part in the movie was when The first is Santa’s warning Buddy about Peep Shows not being somewhere you can look at your Christmas presents early and the two scenes dealing with tiny lingerie outfits with signs saying ‘For that Special Someone this part really chap my lips. I know, I know it’s pretty mild but those are things that keep me from wanting my kids to watch it. But you’ll still get the scene where Buddy and Jovie sing “Baby It’s Cold Outside” while Jovie is in the shower. I personally don’t mind this scene at all . It only shows Zooey Deschanel from the armpits up and it’s not sexual in any way. Buddy and Jovie do end up kissing but it’s a very tasteful kiss that last about 3 seconds. Generally speaking I’d say Elf is suitable for ages 7 and up with filters.
This movie is sweet and funny, though it can’t quite seem to make up its mind whether people should need proof of Santa’s existence or not. Some of the jokes in Elf work better than others, and the talents of Caan, Buddy’s adoptive father, and Santa are neglected. But director Jon Favreau shows some verve and keeps the story moving. Deschanel nicely shows us the way that Buddy appeals to Jovie’s longing for a place where singing and sweetness are encouraged.
In 2004, was nominated Kids’ Choice Awards favorite movie, MTV Movie Awards Best Comedic Performance, Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards Best Live Action Family Film, Best Use of Previously Published or Recorded Music and Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie (Comedy) and Choice Movie Actor . But unfortunately the movie did when those but Elf win ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards Top Box Films and Golden Trailer Awards Best Comedy.
