Weak third act dwarfs otherwise great film

Rating: 7/10 (23 November 2004)

MINOR SPOILERS
Although calling this film "instant holiday classic" is somewhat premature, that is not to say that "Elf" doesn't have its great moments. The only thing that keeps it from being entirely wonderful is its schmaltzy third act, which seems to give up after so much energy that the film had before and give it a Hollywood ending instead.
Elf is a fresh take on an old premise of someone/thing leaves the North Pole because they feel out of place, and many viewers will probably be reminded of Dudley Moore's performance as Patch in "Santa Claus: The Movie" (1985). Only in this one, Ferrell's "Buddy" is really not an elf and so he is out of place at "home" but has grown up under elves and so seems out of place in the "real world" as well. Simple, yet effective.
Will Ferrell brings a lot of the magic to this film as "Buddy" since he can so easily portray childhood glee and make it seem natural and make you smile at it - others have tried and been less successful. James Caan is also good as his crotchety father on the "naughty list" - he's got a good soul deep down but he's selfish and greedy, as you would expect a foil in Christmas movies to have. All is well and seems plausible even with Caan's character taking in Buddy since he IS his son despite him thinking he is crazy and annoying. There are some great scenes - one I really enjoyed was the mail room scene in which Buddy and a worker who looks like he escaped prison drink coffee with "maple syrup" and revert to drunken glee, a classic moment that made me smile. I only wish this type of scene was apparent towards the end.
So what makes the third act weak? It is schmaltzy as I have said: Caan's character, who kicks out Buddy in a harsh way, suddenly has a change of heart because his other son comes in and calls him selfish before his nasty boss on Christmas Eve. This didn't work since it didn't seem like Caan cared about Buddy and REALLY wanted/needed this job and yet he up and quits. THEN to add to the cheese, there are scenes where Buddy's love interest sings and gets people of New York to sing thereby adding belief in Christmas again, thus saving Santa and therefore Christmas and therefore the world. The whole thing of Caan publishing a story from the whole thing and succeeding ties it up nicely though (and reminds me of Misery, in which he played an author -wierd), but that half hour before that needs to change since the pacing and events drag here and seem routine and cliché, which was disappointing.
Also I have to add I enjoyed the claymation characters and Bob Newhart since he seemed like the perfect adopted father. I recommend that the studios remake this film in a few years but change the cheesy last third (but keep the first two) and they will then have a classic.
OVERALL RATING: 7 of 10 stars. Worth a watch or two for fans of Christmas, family comedy and/or Will Ferrell, but be forewarned of a cheesy ending.