A Holiday Classic

Rating: Null/10 (21 November 2004)

Elf, starring Will Ferrell, James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, and directed by Jon Favreau, is a perfect, perfect holiday film. The whole thing feels like it hopped right off of a holiday pop-up book.
Will Ferrell is, as usual, a comic and dramatic genius. He gets into his character so well that you instantly forget that it's Will Ferrell, and begin to think of him as Buddy the elf.
James Caan is a wonderful actor. He gives so much depth into his character as Buddy's father. You can see his conflict of interest between his job and his son.
Zooey Deschanel was the perfect choice. She isn't one of the plastic "beauties" that reign in Hollywood these days, and that lends itself very well to the classic-ness of the film.
The whole thing is masterful. Masterfully acted, directed, scored, written, and edited. Hopefully generations after generations will be able to enjoy this film.