Not quite a classic,but worth the watch all the same.

Rating: 8/10 (18 December 2008)

Buddy the Elf(Will FArrell,still not yet a star at this point)has never truly been an elf. But raised from infancy in the North POle and knowing nothing other than the Elf lifestyle,he is as true a helper to old St.Nick as any of the other workers that are. At full adulthood and finally starting to realize that he's not like the others back home,he sets out for New York City to find his true family,mostly his father(JAmes Caan),now a Department store exec. I suspect that one need only see the trailers to figure that when Buddy finds his true father,a host of blissfully nutty events ensues.
No surprises in this film,from the hi-jinx promised to the obligatory romance for BUddy,personned in this case by a bored but decent department store worker(Zooey Deschenal,neither too sweet nor too sour). The casting is so letter perfect it seems almost brainless:Bob Newhart as Buddy's adoptive father,Ed Asner as Santa Claus,MAry Steenburgen as Caan's understanding wife,Andy Richter and Kyle Gass as Caan's underlings,Amy Sedaris as Caan's sweet secretary and Peter Dinklage as a very un-elf-life storybook author who looks like he could be a perfect ringer for one of Kris Kringle's workers. Director Jon FAvreau's movie moves as easily as any,and while I personally wouldn't call this a "new classic"(though it would still seem like MIracle on 34th Street compared with another holiday themed film that came out around that time,Bad Santa)in Yule flicks,this makes for perfectly fine holiday themed entertainment.