ELF

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 3 out of 5

Because of: innuendo, crude humor

Rated:

According to our storyteller, there are three kinds of elves: those that make shoes while the shoemaker sleeps (lazy fool), those who are best known for cookie-making in trees (which often can be dangerous in the dry season), and those esteemed elect who live and serve at the North Pole. For hundreds of years, no human beings ever lived among the elves in Santa's Workshop... until Buddy came along. One wintry Christmas Eve, Santa paid a visit to an orphanage in lower Manhattan. He returned home in good cheer, little knowing a Christmas gift had crawled into his red velvet sack. They called the baby Buddy (because of the name on the diaper manufacturer's tag) and put him to work with the other elf-children. Buddy (Will Farrell) never figured out he wasn't an elf, despite his enormous size, until his guardian (Bob Newhart) made up his mind to tell him.

Suddenly it makes sense why he can't make Etch-a-Sketch boards as fast as the other elves. Why his shoes are twelve sizes too big. Why whenever he tries to sit on his dad's lap, he squashes the poor fellow flat. Buddy belongs in New York City, where his father is a highly paid children's book publisher and a regular Scrooge. He's been on the Naughty list for the past thirty-five years, pays little attention to his twelve-year-old son, and is constantly looking for ways to cut corners. Little does Dad (James Caan) know his biological son is about to walk out of the land of the frozen north and into his office... donned in the festive green and red of the season. For Buddy, the Big Apple is a gigantic adventure where pre-chewed gum left on railings makes a nice treat, and spaghetti isn't served with syrup -- his favorite food group.

Mistaken for an employee at a large children's department store, Buddy is put to work with Jovie (Zooey Deschanel), a beautiful, talented young woman with a slightly cynical attitude toward Christmas and men in general. His innocence and sweet-natured compliments eventually wear through her outer resolve, but Buddy has bigger problems with his father, who would like nothing more than to tie him to a sleigh and push it into the lake. Since this is a comedy, the interaction between father and son is often humorous but turns out touching. In true form the "Scrooge" of our story realizes his failings as a father and seeks to change them... with a little help from some reindeer, a snow globe, and mailroom employees along the way.

The Christmas cheer is woven throughout this film, which isn't as funny as the previews imply but does have some classic moments. Buddy's complete innocents leads to a lot of "don't try this at home" moments, as well as some clever gags parents will gasp over but children will overlook entirely. Such as his innocently purchasing lingerie and sending it to his dad for Christmas, eating gum off stair railings, using revolving doors as a merry-go-round, and consuming cotton balls. He also mistakes a coworker's gin bottle for syrup and pours it into his coffee. The two have a hilarious sequence in which they cheer up all the mail room employees with storytelling and dancing on the table. There are two ways to look at this film. Either for its innocence being sweet, good-natured, and charming (such as Buddy's fascination for just about everything we take for granted); or to be offended since it all rings of "mental problems."

People with challenged children might not appreciate some of the jokes, even though they're not directly aimed at kids. I felt a little uncomfortable laughing at Buddy because people who really do have problems are nothing to chuckle about. Overlooking this minor point, Elf is a mostly-clean family film that leaves you with a warm holiday feeling inside. There are two mild profanities, and a couple of offensive terms such as "up yours," and "pissed off." Hearing Jovie singing in the store shower (her water was turned off), Buddy innocently goes into the girl's bathroom, perches on the sinks, and sings along with her. Wrapping herself in a towel, she peers around the corner and then screams for him to get out. Buddy is encouraged to "lose the tights," by his father and does so in the middle of the kitchen floor... just as his stepmother comes in. Some mild violence appears when he accuses the store Santa of being an imposter, and the guy takes a swing at him. There's also an extremely long belch in one scene, and an adorable little troll briefly fluctuates to illustrate why Santa chose elves instead to help in his toyshop.

The humor makes up for most of the failings. Buddy believes a rabid raccoon "just needs a hug" in order to get over his bad day. He sprints across the living room, bounces off the couch, and slams into the Christmas tree in an effort to put the star on top -- bringing the whole kit and caboodle down. Both his stepmother and stepbrother absolutely love him. His stepmom encourages her husband to give him opportunities so they might help him overcome his problems. He also has the ability to make just about everyone feel wanted and loved, no matter who they are. There's no mention of the true reason for Christmas, a fact some might find offensive. But for the purpose of keeping fact and fairy tale separate, most won't give this a second thought and it holds no bearing over a mostly-sweet family classic.