Elf (Infinifilm Edition)
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DVD details
Actor: Bob Newhart, Will FerrellBrand: New Line Home Entertainment
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 97 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-11-16
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: New Line Home Entertainment
DVD Reviews of Elf (Infinifilm Edition)
DVD Review: Will Ferrell might have his role of a lifetime in "Elf"
Summary: 4 Stars
It is entirely possible that Will Ferrell will never have another role as perfect as that of Buddy the Elf in "Elf" for the rest of his film career. This is just a case of perfect casting, which is critical for any film that wants to tell you the story of a 6' 3½" inch human being who thinks he is one of Santa's elves. Ferrell strikes the perfect note of earnest naïveté for most of the film and manages to stay endearing without becoming obnoxious (although the syrup on spaghetti bit is toeing the line for my money). From the moment he appears full sized, you are sold on Ferrell's Buddy and whatever failings this 2003 holiday comedy has, it has nothing to do with his performance.
The premise of "Elf" is that one Christmas many years ago Santa Clause (Ed Asner) left an orphanage with a small passenger in his sack of toys. Since Santa obviously has a warm spot in his heart for children, little Buddy is adopted by Papa Elf (Bob Newhart) and raised as an Elf despite the fact that he is twice as big as his adopted father by the time he is four. But Buddy does not know that he is adopted until he overhears the other elves talking about the problems with an "elf" who can only make 85 Etch-a-Sketches a day instead of 200. Once he knows the truth, Buddy heads to New York City and the Empire State Building, where his father, Walter Hobbes (James Caan) works. The only thing that Buddy knows about his father is that he is on Santa's naughty list; he does not know that Walter has a wife, Emily (Mary Steenburgen) and a son, Michael (Daniel Tay).
"Elf" is a film that is really geared for children, which is a polite way of saying that the script by David Berenbaum keeps things simple for the kiddies as it goes through all of the expected scenes as Buddy turns rough beginnings with his father and Jovie (Zooey Deschanel), the cute girl dressed up as an elf at Gimbels. The publishing house that Walter works for is in desperate need for an idea for a great children's book, and if you do not know where that idea is going to come from then you have simply not been around long enough to have seen enough of these films to figure it all out before the end. Hiring Asner and Newhart is great, but giving them better scenes and dialogue would have been even better. I would have liked to have seen a lot more of Buddy's little animated friends and a lot less of the Central Park Rangers (What is up with having New York Police Officers be the "villains" in a post 9/11 movie? Bah Humbug, people).
But the premises are certainly there to be developed into more memorable scenes. For example, Buddy might have been a human in an elf's world, but he is a serious thrower of snow balls and only needs forty minutes of sleep a night, which gives him lots of time to do Christmas decorations. The latter comes up with a memorable scene early on, but is then reduced to being just a running gag. Yet for most of the film the idea that Buddy has a touch of magic is ignored. Obviously the fish out of water/stranger in a strange land bits are a large part of the film, but this just emphasizes this film is geared for elf sized children. I think it could have been even more enchanting if it had raised its sights slightly higher.
The other major problem with "Elf" is that the least interesting relationship is between Buddy and his father, where there is just no chemistry. The scenes with Jovie are a lot more touching, there is not enough of Faizon Love as the manager at Gimbel's who thinks Buddy is working him, Amy Sedaris is pretty much wasted as Walter's secretary Deb, and Steenburgen simply puts Caan to shame every time they have a scene together. If I had to make a choice between recasting the role of Walter or reworking the script, I am not sure which way I would go. The former would be the cheap fix, but the character and cast are good enough that tinkering with the script could have increased the chances of "Elf" being the modern Christmas classic it wants to be.
Still, kids will love the film, and adults will find enough to laugh at and enough gentle tugs of the heartstrings to make it worth the viewing. But it is just not up to the level of a perennial film for the holiday season. Besides, since this an Infinifilm DVD it is loaded with lots of goodies for movie fans to enjoy (I especially liked just listening to kids talk about elves, Santa's sleigh, the North Pole, etc.). I am starting to get good at navigating through all the options and have actually developed a preference jumping in and out of the extra scenes the second time I go through the film. Final Note: I am sure most of your figured out that Leon Redbone was doing the voice of Leon the Snowman, but the voice of the Polar Bear Cub was the master of stop motion animation, Ray Harryhausen.
Description of Elf (Infinifilm Edition)
This hilarious Christmas film tells the tale of a young orphan child who mistakenly crawls into Santa's bag of gifts on Christmas Eve and is transported back to the North Pole and raised as an elf. Years later Buddy learns he is not really an elf and goes on a journey to New York City to find his true identity.DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:2 commentaries with Will Ferrell & Director
DVD ROM Features
Deleted Scenes
Featurette:Film school for kids Tag along with Will Ferrell How they made the North Pole Kids on Christmas and more!
Other:2-Disc Infinifilm DVD Widescreen version on Disc 1 and Fullscreen version on Disc 2 Spanish Language Track Elf Karaoke Read-Along Infinifilm Fact Tack Buddy's Adventure Game Elf Decoder Card and more!
Elf is genuinely good. Not just Saturday Night Live-movie good, when the movie has some funny bits but is basically an insult to humanity; Elf is a smartly written, skillfully directed, and deftly acted story of a human being adopted by Christmas elves who returns to the human world to find his father. And because the writing, directing, and acting are all genuinely good, Elf is also genuinely funny. Will Ferrell, as Buddy the adopted elf, is hysterically sincere. James Caan, as his rediscovered father, executes his surly dumbfoundedness with perfect aplomb. Zooey Deschanel, as a department store worker with whom Buddy falls in love, is adorably sardonic. Director Jon Favreau (Swingers) shepherds the movie through all the obligatory Christmas cliches and focuses on material that's sometimes subtle and consistently surprising. Frankly, Elf feels miraculous. Also featuring Mary Steenburgen, Bob Newhart, Peter Dinklage, and Ed Asner as Santa Claus. --Bret Fetzer
Stills from Elf (click for larger image)
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