Elf

Reviewed by:
Paul Ulane

Schmaltz is a powerful force to be reckoned with come holiday movie season. Fortunately, Elf brings Will Ferrell in tights and fights to a draw. Ferrell plays Buddy, an Elf-in-headlights who leaves the North Pole for Manhattan to search for his real father (James Caan). The innocent toy maker draws laughs when he discovers how different big city life can be—shopping mall Santas, office meetings, and acting like Will Ferrell on Saturday Night Live all make for good music montage comedy. The sappy kids lessons on holiday cheer flirt with excess, but Ferrell overacting in a pair of clinging pants is enough to re-gift groans as laughs. Surrounding Ferrell with an experienced cast—Caan, Zooey Deschanel, Bob Newhart—director Jon Favreau gets cute but cuts it short of nauseating, never upstaging the real message here: Men in tights are fucking hysterical.