It's OK, but I'd rather watch Scrooged.

Rating: 6/10 (27 December 2009)

Will Ferrell is one of my favourite movie funny-men, but even so, I had my reservations about Elf: it is a Christmas film after all, and they do have tendency to get rather sappy for my liking.
Still, I put aside my doubts, and to start with, I admit I had a chuckle-some time, with Will providing some amusing 'fish-out-of-water' moments as wide-eyed innocent Buddy, the titular 'elf' (in reality, a human adopted when a baby by one of Santa's workers) who leaves North Pole to travel to New York, where he hopes to find his real father (played by James Caan).
Unfortunately, the makers of this film just can't help themselves, and gradually allow over-sentimentality to take control, before unloading a whole sackful of saccharine sweet clichÃ©s in the final act: Buddy's mean, inconsiderate father miraculously transforms into a loving dad; good old Santa pops up needing some Christmas spirit to power his sleigh; and everyone starts singing carols and being all happy and stuff! Hell, Buddy even gets the girl (pretty shop assistant Jovie, played by Zooey Deschanel). Gag! A bit of cheesy schmaltz is to be expected this time of year, but this amount in one massive dose is just too much for me to handle.
I rate Elf an unexceptional 5.5 out of 10, very generously bumped up to 6 because, hey, it's Christmas!!!.