wasn't expecting this!

Rating: 10/10 (1 May 2005)

I never had the urge to watch Elf. I saw the adverts, thought it an over-americanised piece of tacky, vulgar crap. So when my music teacher decided she was going to make us watch it, I wasn't looking forward to it. The fact she claimed to have watched it 6 times since buying it, before I saw it, was worrying, and the fact she wanted to show it to her GCSE music class was just as odd. But she had bought us chocolate logs (there are only 10 people who take music) so we all settled down to watch it ("if anyone asks, we're studying film music!").
And wow. I mean wow. This film was one of the funniest and most touching films (considering what I thought it would be) that I'd ever seen. There are so many scenes that made me laugh out loud to count. And I can truthfully say that at certain points at the end, our entire class went "awww!" (the fact that we're all girls shouldn't factor into this.) The advert for this film doesn't do it justice at all. There's a plenty of humour in it to satisfy any adult (or 16-year old) as well as the kiddie laughs.
Will Ferral makes this film what it is. His child-in-a-grown-mans performance is admirable and everyone said that they would marry him just for his sweetness in this film. That said, Zooey Deschanels snarling attitude definitely brought a satisfying ring to the film, with her witty put downs of Buddy the Elf and her portrayal of 'teen angst' is fantastic.
Watch this. Recommend is not a strong enough word for how much I want people to watch it! Just watch it, OK?