A new Holiday classic

Rating: 10/10 (11 November 2003)

This past weekend I had to sit through two hours of dreck in Beyond Borders. ELF more than does the job of uplifting my battered movie-going spirits! This is a great movie! Ferrell is great, the story is great, and I absolutely loved the tongue-in-cheek nods to those old Rankin/Bass Christmas specials we past-30-folks grew up on. "Leon The Snowman"?! Give me a break, what a hoot!
Like others have said, I don't think anyone but Ferrell could have brought the kind of innocent, childlike, borderline-weird quality that's perfect for the role. He's the star and everyone else is backup, well, except for the great script and visual direction, especially early on in the film.

Overall, a wonderful experience as the Christmas season draws near.