A great Christmas movie

Rating: 9/10 (8 December 2010)

If this movie is not a Christmas classic by now, then it will be. Elf is the story about a human who was raised by elves, who finds out that he is human and goes to New York to find his dad.
The story starts off great as Papa Elf (Bob Newhart) is introducing us to who elves are and what they do in their lines of work, such as making shoes, baking cookies, or making toys at Christmas. Then it transitions to when Buddy was a baby at an orphanage who sneaks into Santa's sack while he is eating cookies. Later, Santa (Edward Asner) and his elves find a baby in the bag, who Papa Elf volunteers to raise.
The story then focuses on Buddy being raised and trained to work like and elf, even though he can't keep up the pace with the other elves. He later realizes that he is a human and thinks about times when he does not fit. This makes Buddy decide to go to New York and find his dad, played greatly by the very talented James Caan.
Will Ferrell stars as the human raised by elves named Buddy. Ferrell is great and shows many talents as a comedian and as an actor. You laugh at times when he is dumb because he does not know better. He also makes you feel for him at other times such as when he meets and likes a coworker named Jovie (Zooey Deschanel).
As I said, Caan does a great job at his role as Walter Hobbs. He knows that Buddy is a grown man, but knows that he needs to get to reality, even though he loves Christmas. As for the rest of the supporting cast, Mary Steenburgen does a fine job for her part as Emily, Walter's wife. Daniel Tay does a great job at being very believable as Michael, Buddy's half-brother. You can understand what he's thinking when he first meets Buddy. Deschanel is wonderful as Buddy's love interest, Jovie. What Deschanel does great as Jovie is making her to be this girl who just wants to get through Christmas, yet she changes her ways after meeting Buddy.
My favorite supporting players are the aforementioned Edward Asner as Santa and Bob Newhart as Papa Elf. I think so just because I enjoyed watching how great they naturally acted in their parts.
The director of the movie is Jon Favreau. What Favreau does best with this movie is great storytelling that is fun for both kids and adults. I am 21 years old and I still enjoy watching this movie every year. Favreau proves how well he works with his cast, and make every part of the movie work and be fun. I enjoy seeing parts, such as Leon the snowman, as that makes me think about all those classic Christmas films like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.