..Gary
Dretzka
..Noah
Forrest
..Leonard
Klady
..R.J.
Matson
..David
Poland
..Douglas
Pratt
..Ray
Pride
..Michael
Wilmington
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One can argue proportion, but from this vantage point the new Will Farrell movie is Elf empty. It's not that the fanciful lark of a human raised by Santa's helpers is without charm, it simply needs more of it spread uniformly throughout.
Constructed as a modern fairy tale, the film has an auspicious start in which in his best dead pan, Bob Newhart narrates how a child crept into Santa's bag one Christmas and wound up at the North Pole. Raised as an elf but obviously quickly towering over his brethren, the boy dubbed Buddy evolves into Farrell and is told that the reason he's not better as a toy maker is due to the fact that he's a human. His mother has passed away but his father, who's unaware of his existence, is a cynical publisher of children's books in Manhattan named Walter Hobbs (James Caan). He also happens to be on Santa's "naughty" list.
So, Buddy makes the trek to the Big Apple and the crashing reality of the big city turns the story on its ear. The film is essentially a one-joke premise repeated to a point that escalates to the cloying and saccharine. Farrell is the sort of performer that can sustain a vivid cameo or works well in support but he's not someone one wants to see as the lead of a picture. It only underlines the limits of his appeal and strains the credulity of romance and sentiment so essential to this lark.
Like A Christmas Carol and It's a Wonderful Life, Elf is about regaining the spirit of the season but told from the vantage point of the Ghost of Christmas Past or Angel-in-training Clarence. That's the crippling flaw of David Berenbaum's script. To truly give this type of tale impact, one has to focus on the character who's lost it and whose faith in humanity is renewed by some means or circumstance.
One might have anticipated, based on past work, that director Jon Favreau would have a better pulse on the real rather than fanciful elements of the story. But, au contraire, it's the whimsy and silly that captures his imagination and one senses a tremendous frustration in transporting them from sound stages into the street. Despite Farrell's awkwardness, there are fleeting joys to be had in Caan's work and a truly transcendent performance by Zooey Deschanel who additionally has a wonderful singing voice. Otherwise, Elf suffers from severe deprivation of pixie dust.
A New Line Cinema release of a Guy Walks Into a Bar production. Produced by Jon Berg, Todd Komarnicki, Shauna Robertson. Director, Jon Favreau. Screenplay, David Berenbaum. Camera, Greg Gardiner. Editor, Dan Lebental. Music, John Debney. Production design, Rusty Smith. Costumes, Laura Jean Shannon. Visual effects supervisor, Joe Bauer.
Will Farrell (Buddy), James Caan (Walter Hobbs), Zooey Deschanel (Jovie), Mary Steenburgen (Emily Hobbs), Daniel Tay (Michael Hobbs), Bob Newhart (Papa Elf), Edward Asner (Santa Claus).
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Elf |
Release
Date: November 7, 2003
Rated: PG
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Starring: Will Ferrell,
Edward Asner, Mary Steenburgen, James Caan, Bob Newhart
Produced by: Jon Berg, Todd Komarnicki, Shauna Weinberg
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Distributor:
New Line
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Review Date: November 7, 2003
