Right off the top I should mention that Elf was NOT what I was expecting it to be√¢‚Ǩ¬¶ and that’s a good thing. I thought it was going to be one long slapstick Will Ferrell flick. Although SOME of the film was that way, in reality Elf is a simple family Christmas film, and a pretty good one at that.
Don’t get me wrong, Ferrell is definitely Ferrell in the movie. He totally has no pride whatsoever (which is what makes him hilarious) and pulls off some great physical humor in the film. And even though there was no mature content in the film at all, I found that Ferrell was more like himself in this film that he was in Old School.
The last 20 minutes of the movie were terrible, but not bad enough to erase all the good stuff that was there up to that point. Bob Newhart was wonderful as Ferrell’s adopted Elf father. James Caan was a little out of place. Caan is too good of an actor to be taken at face value in such a simple little cute movie and just didn’t fit in.
Overall, Elf was enjoyable. Not a Christmas classic, not great, not a must see, but definitely worth your time and price of a ticket.
To Striker,
You can be very intellegant in your posts, like the posts on Revolutions but i’m dissapointed in you with your post above. It IS a christmas movie, and it was made to be a christmas movie. I don’t know what you expected, giant guns and Arnold Swarchneggar?? yes i have seen this movie, and yes i do think that it was pethetic but then it was made for the little kiddies just like the grinch was made for. Of course it was going to be unoriginal, there is nothing new for a christmas movie to offer. If you are woundering i am a film critic, and some of the reviews you have done are brilliant stuff but the post above was perthetic as the film!
I’m a reasonable guy and i don’t just slag movies off but i have a few problems with this. First off there is that sickly feeling that this movie gives off, cuddly cute and everything horrible. It’s just another christmas film i could say and so can others. Maybe I just seem to hate christmas or summit…hahaha no i don’t really. But it looks unoriginal, a few good and bad laughs and a fairy on top movie. Surely some people would rather see LOTRs: return fot he king??????
This movie looks pretty awesome. I’m a huge Will Ferrell fan. This looks like a must see for me.
I have seen many bad reviews for this movie, maybe too many?? Nah! Well i hated this movie and would rather stick glass in my eyes then watch it again!!
Damn! Now you’ve done it. Before this movie came out I was sure it was going to be another one of those bad products of a Saturday Night Live cast member (a la David Spade or Molly whats-her-name). After all, I can’t stand to watch SNL anymore—it’s just not funny. So, I figured this one would bomb, like an elephant dropped from a plane. But, darned if the reviews for this movie are—reasonable. I don’t think I’ve seen one stinky review, yet. I might actually have to see this movie, now. Yikes! What did I just say? I must be losing my mind.
Gotta go. Another trailer for Eddie Murphy’s Halloween movie just came on. Boy, I can’t wait until Thanksgiving to see that one.