Will Ferrell shows tremendous potential in this paint-by-numbers Christmas movie

Rating: 6/10 (6 December 2003)

When I first saw the Elf trailers, my initial reaction was "oh great, this looks pretty bad". Judging from the low quality of the trailers and the fact it was opening up on the same weekend Matrix Revolutions was opening I had little faith in this film. But after watching it actually take out the titan it shared a weekend with and continue to stay near the top combined with the positive reviews and excellent word-of-mouth I decided to see what made Elf so special.
Well, what I can basically say about Elf is that it takes almost every single Christmas movie cliche and throws it together to make a two hour movie. We have the "disgruntled man who needs to be shown Christmas spirit", "Santa is unable to deliver presents so main character must help him", plus with a sappy ending that reeks of positive spirit. But what I believe prevented this from turning into another I'll Be Home for Christmas is that Will Ferrell shows so much potential as a comedian and as an actor and his performance did save this film.
Of course, many of the good jokes were spoiled in the trailers which I personally hate when it comes to any comedy so that did impact my perception of Elf's humour a lot. But what I was seen for the first time was very humourous and the way that Ferrell brings the Buddy the Elf character to life is amazing. All he needs is one consistantly good film and his career will take off, I guarentee that. I'm saying that because I only see potential in Ferrell, Old School was too short and the jokes were badly paced while this one just feels like another Christmas movie. Considering the immense success of Elf however, I can honestly say we will be seeing that one film very soon as demand for Ferrell goes up. The choice to make James Caan the father of Buddy was a pure genius move since Caan still has the ability to make his character seem rough around the edges, (though his "good ending" was a little forced). A lot of Ferrell's scenes clicked and many of his jokes did indeed hit and that is what I feel makes Ferrell so gifted.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is that Elf is a basic Christmas movie with little surprises but Ferrell's performance truely shows his potential.
6.5/10