I'm trying something
different to get in the holiday spirit this year. Every day, from
now through Christmas, I will be watching a different Christmas movie
or television special. I have compiled the list of features ahead of
time and am drawing one, at random, from my Christmas stocking
everyday to determine what gets watched. Thank you for joining me in
this endeavor. Now let's look at day 5's selection.
Elf was released when I was in my senior year of high
school, but I didn't see it until the holiday season of 2010. I'm
not exactly sure why this is. At first I thought I might have been
experiencing Will Ferrell burn-out, but a quick Google search reveals
to me that Anchorman and the rest of his run of hit comedies came out
after this. Only Old School predates it. The hard truth is I guess
I must have thought myself too good for a Christmas movie in 2003.
That sadly makes sense; I was not far removed from the height of my
moody teenage years at that point. Regardless of why I didn't see it
initially, I have enjoyed seeing it since. However, I am pretty sure
I have only ever watched it on cable. This viewing marks my first
time ever seeking it out specifically.
Synopsis
The plot for Elf is fairly straight forward. It opens by
relating how one Christmas an orphan baby managed to stow away in
Santa's sack and was brought back to the North Pole. Being a sucker
for babies, Santa allows the child to remain and be brought up by
Papa Elf. Buddy, as the child is named, has a happy childhood and is
raised as an elf, never realizing why he is so much taller, deeper
voiced, and worse at making toys. Due to some overheard water cooler
talk between two elves, Buddy finally is alerted to the fact that he
is human at age 30. In light of this revelation and after consulting
with Santa and Papa Elf, Buddy embarks to find his biological father
who lives in New York. Durring his departure Santa warns Buddy not
to get his hopes up too much as his father is on the naughty list.
After a journey that pays homage to the old Rankin-Bass
Christmas specials (they have to be coming up at some point, don't
they), Buddy arrives in New York and we are treated to a number of
fish out of water scenes. Through a case of mistaken identity, Buddy
ends up working at Gimbels where he meets a young woman named, Jovie.
Buddy is able, after DNA testing, to convince his biological dad,
Walter, that they are indeed related and Buddy ends up staying with
him, his wife and his son. Buddy's Christmas spirit and general
earnest and caring nature is infectious and soon everyone, other than
Walter, has come to think of him as family.
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| Is it too late to get a movie or special starring the arctic puffin? I really would like one. |
However, after Buddy messes up a Christmas Eve story pitch
meeting at Walter's job, Walter scold Buddy and tells him that he
wants nothing to do with him. This sends Buddy to the streets of New
York pondering how he fits in neither in the world of humans nor the
world of elves. Just as he is at his lowest point, Buddy sees
Santa's sleigh crash in to Central Park and he rushes there to help.
Meanwhile, Walter son Michael finds the note Buddy left and heads to
his dad's office to convince him to help search for Buddy. Seeing
the positive effect Buddy has had on Michael, Walter realizes the
mistake that he has made and heads out to find Buddy. Walter and
Michael find Buddy with Santa in Central Park. Santa's sleigh's jet
engine has failed and the only hope for flight is a miraculous sudden
surge of Christmas spirit. While Buddy attempts repairs on the
engine, Michael rushes off to the crowd gathered outside the park
with Santa's list using the fact that it knows what people asked for
to boost belief in Santa hoping that it will be enough to get the
Sleigh of the ground. As the dreaded Central Park Rangers close in
on Santa and Buddy, Jovie arrives at the crowd and leads them in
impromptu Christmas carols which finally tip the level of Christmas
Spirit and allow Santa and Buddy to make an airborne escape. With
Christmas saved, we find Buddy and Jovie marry and have a kid, and
Walter opens his own publishing house which publishes Buddy's
“fictional” story.
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| The comparisons between the Nazgûl and the Central Park Rangers are many. |
Final Thoughts
Elf is a film that gets by on style over substance. I
recognize that phrase has negative connotations but in this case it
is not a bad thing. Elf's plot is pretty thin and a lot of the
characters are little more that cookie cutter templates. However,
what Elf has going for it is a novel concept, a human raised by
elves, and an abundance of heart. This movie oozes schmaltzy charm
and unadulterated Christmas cheer in a way that would be overbearing
if not in the capable hands of Will Ferrell, Ed Asner, Bob Newhart,
et. al. If there was one thing that served to take me out of the
movie at all it is the deluge of product placement. Maybe it is just
me, but it seems as though at some point in the early 2000s product
placement in movies got widely out of control to the point where you
could be forgiven for thinking Micheal Bay had a hand in every movie
produced. To this point, while seeing the elves make toys that are
current and relevant rather that rocking horses and wooden toy
soldiers is good, the movie often feels like an extended
Etch-a-Sketch commercial. Further, I know Pop-Tarts are delicious,
but I don't know many houses that keep a box out on both the kitchen
counter and the kitchen table with labels pointed directly towards
camera.
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| Have you bought an Etch-a-Sketch yet? |
In the end, these are minor nitpicks and are more emblematic of when
the movie was made rather than any real deficiency with it. The
earnestness of the film is enough to propel it past much of the rest
of the holiday film fare one is likely to find. Overall, I am glad
that I discovered this film in spite of my angsty teenage self. It
has secured a place in my regular holiday rotation and, while I
realize most of you saw this long before I did, I think that if you
give it a chance it can find a place in yours as well. That is day
5. Hard to believe this project is already 1/6 done. Christmastime
flies. See you all here tomorrow for day 6.
Not now arctic Puffin!
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