(2003)
3
Perry Seibert
Jon Favreau leaves behind his roots in independent cinema (Swingers, Made, Dinner for Five) with the resolutely mainstream holiday comedy Elf. Favreau has a strong enough sense of humor to make the familiar fish-out-of-water material work, and in Will Ferrell he has an actor willing to do anything for a laugh. Ferrell's two-dimensional wholesomeness and goodness never waver, ruling out any character development. The film is just a series of scenes that are variations on a theme where Buddy's naïveté embarrasses someone until they share in his joyful innocence. Elf has the feel of a film that has been test-marketed to every conceivable demographic, which it undoubtedly was, considering the egregious product placements on display throughout. While it is accurate and fair to say that there is something in the movie for everyone to enjoy (from silly physical comedy to a reliably deadpan Bob Newhart to pointed references to other Christmas films to an angry dwarf), there is such a relentless desire to please that the film as a whole falls short. With the exception of some remarkable singing by co-star Zooey Deschanel (including a superb end-credit duet with Leon Redbone), everything in Elf feels like the director asked himself, "Will someone in the audience like this?" rather than "Do I like this?"
Elf on AllMovie
Elf (2003)
