Elf

Plot synopsis:
On Christmas Eve in 1973, an orphaned infant boy stows away on Santa Claus' sack. When discovered back at the North Pole, he is adopted by Papa Elf. Papa Elf names his son Buddy.
Buddy grows up at the North Pole believing he is an elf, but due to his human size he is unable to perform elf tasks. When Buddy accidentally learns that he is human, Papa Elf explains that he was born to Walter Hobbs and Susan Wells, and was given up for adoption without Walter knowing. Susan died and Walter works at a children's book publisher in New York City at the Empire State Building. Santa notes that Walter is on the naughty list due to his greed and selfishness, but suggests Buddy could help redeem him, and so Buddy travels alone to New York.
Buddy has trouble acclimating to the customs of the human world. Buddy finds his father's office, but Walter has him ejected after Buddy mentions Susan Wells. After following a security guard's sarcastic suggestion to go "back to Gimbels" due to his elf outfit, the Gimbels' manager mistakes him for an employee at Santa Land. He meets Jovie, an unenthused employee to whom he is attracted. Knowing that Santa will arrive the next day, Buddy stays behind and spends the night decorating Santa Land, and buys a nightie for Walter.
The next day, Buddy is appalled that the store's Santa is not real and rips off the man's fake beard, causing them to fight, with the manager having to subdue the fake Santa. Walter bails Buddy out of prison and takes him to Dr. Leonardo for a DNA test, which confirms that Buddy is Walter's son. The doctor convinces him to take Buddy home to meet his step-mother Emily and 12-year-old half-brother Michael. Walter and Michael are annoyed by Buddy's childlike behavior, but Emily insists that they take care of him until he "recovers".
Buddy wins Michael over by helping him defeat a gang of bullies in a snowball fight and Michael encourages Buddy to ask Jovie out. Walter learns from his boss Fulton Greenway that his company is in financial trouble after publishing a failed children's book, and organizes a book pitch for Christmas Eve, for which Walter and his associates Eugene and Morris arrange a meeting with best-selling children's author Miles Finch to hire him.
One night, Buddy goes on a date with Jovie and wins her over. On Christmas Eve, Buddy bursts into Walter's office during a meeting with Finch to tell Walter about his love, and mistakes Finch for an elf because of his dwarfism. Finch loses his temper and attacks Buddy before storming out, causing Walter to harshly disown Buddy.
Eugene and Morris find a notebook Finch left that is filled with ideas for children's books. Walter pitches these ideas to Greenway, but Michael bursts in to tell Walter that Buddy ran away. Greenway refuses to reschedule; Walter quits his job and leaves to find Buddy.
Santa's sleigh crashes in Central Park, attracting a large crowd. Buddy finds him and discovers that the sleigh's engine has broken off, meaning that it cannot fly without Christmas spirit. Walter and Michael find Buddy, and Walter apologizes to Buddy for harshly disowning him and accepts Buddy as his son; Buddy then takes them to meet Santa. Michael takes Santa's list and reads it in front of the gathered TV news cameras to prove he exists. The Central Park Rangers, who never forgave Santa for putting them on the naughty list for an unidentified wrongdoing, chase his sleigh as Buddy tries to reattach the engine.
Jovie leads the gathered people in singing "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town", helping raise enough Christmas spirit to partially power the sleigh. Walter is convinced by Michael to start singing, which restores enough Christmas spirit to allow it to fly.
By next Christmas, Walter has started his own publishing company with the first best-selling book titled Elf, an account of Buddy's adventures. Buddy and Jovie have a daughter named Susie, named after his biological mother. During the film's closure, they visit Papa Elf at the North Pole.

Tags: romantic, comedy, cute, entertaining, storytelling

Review:
Probably the best use of Zoey D's looks in her career to date.Way under rated and unappreciated.As in my other reviews, most "recent" X-Mas films (since about 2000) are Canadian B-movies shot on a budget which would barely cover a reno on THIS OLD HOUSE What an unexpected treat See it.
Accidentally finding his way into Santa's bad once Christmas Eve, little baby orphan Buddy ends up in the north pole, where he is raised by the elves as one of their own.
However Buddy's natural smile and elfish enthusiasm doesn't really fit in with New York, not to mention a father who rejects him.When I first saw the trailer for this film I laughed slightly but I also thought that it could easily be just awful.
The jokes are a mix of adult and children - but not separately, the humour is of a nature families can all enjoy rather than being of a `one for me and one for the kids' type.The film does get a little sweet towards the end, but it manages to avoid this usual trap for the majority of the film and can't be expected to not be all Christmas cheer at some point!
Will Ferrell does a great job here, and it's the perfect Christmas (Holiday) movie that can be enjoyed anytime of the year.The contrast of almost unbalanced folly of Will's character with those that encompass him, lends a great degree of innocence and non-stop joy and plenty of laughter as he leaves the mundane world of the usual, boring, and often time intolerance of the world in his dust.It's refreshing to see a story where others are encouraged to rise to the level of this main character instead of him being overwhelmed and dragged down by the majority of "Cotten Headed Ninny Muggins", a.k.a. the "touch me not, speak to me not" big city public psyche so familiar that many walk around with.For those that represent the general public in the movie, as well as the audience, Ferrell's character dares us to believe again, even for a moment of the magic of Christmas and tears down decades of political correctness to connect us with the late 60s and 70s when so many annual Holiday shows brought us a seemingly sustained desire to entertain ourselves with the magic that waxes then wanes but for a few short weeks each year.
Charming Christmas confection--about a boy raised by elves in the North Pole who grows up and journeys to N.Y.C. in search of his biological father--puts a clever spin on even the most familiar gags, successfully walking a fine line between absurdist comedy and holiday schmaltz.
Fortunately, director Jon Favreau's handling of "Elf" is incredibly nimble, treating Ferrell and his naive character Buddy with the utmost respect; you can laugh at all the silly pranks without ever feeling guilty.
Favreau's work is smooth, and he's assembled an incredible supporting cast of character actors to back his star, though some may find the climactic moments (involving Edward Asner as Santa Claus) a bit too literal--and the movie is certainly funnier before we get to this point.
Granted, this may not be Will Farrell's most amazing performance, but if you want a new Christmas movie to watch this season, I highly recommend Elf. I talked to a few people who thought the movie was stupid, but that was because they were expecting Will Farrell's character to be a duplicate of his SNL performances.
Buddy tries to fit in with the others but finds it difficult although he becomes friends with Walter's son and starts dating Jovie.This film is directed by Jon Favreau who has made his mark as a director of low budget films like "Made" and also as a character actor but this is his first effort at directing a mainstream Hollywood movie.
ELF (2003) *** 1/2 Will Ferrell, James Caan, Mary Steenburgen, Edward Asner, Bob Newhart, Zooey Daschanel, Daniel Tay, Amy Sedaris, Faizon Love, Andy Richter, Kyle Gass, Michael Lerner, Artie Lange, Peter Billingsley, Peter Dinklage, Claire Lautier, Jon Favreau.
Ferrell gives an inspired lunacy turn as a man who was raised by elves at The North Pole and discovers to his dismay he's actually human sparking his quest to be re-united with his long-lost father (Caan in an inspired bit of casting), a 'naughty-list' occupant, who works as a children's book publisher in New York City, just in time for Christmas.
Hysterically funny thanks to the goofy yet sweet and wonderful turn by Ferrell (no one else could pull off the razor's edge of looking like an idiot yet retaining the innocent glee of a child and bares a striking resemblance to Tom Hanks' turn in 'BIG') with a great cast especially the beguilingly pretty Daschanel as his fellow Santa's Little Helper at Gimbels'who he falls in love with.
Elf was a hilarious movie about a guy named Buddy (Will Ferrel), who was raised by elves at the North Pole.
The funnier scenes were well played out by Will and fit the character of Buddy the Elf.Sounds like my impressions of the film doesn't coincide with my rating of it, but it was a perfectly fine Christmassy flick that left me with a smile.
Confession time: Until just a couple of hours ago, I had never seen this now-classic Christmas comedy starring Will Ferrell in the title role.
There are some questionable times in the movie where Will Ferrell comes off as a bit sarcastic, not really living up to the elf he's playing, but this should probably go over young children's heads.
There are so many great lives in the movie...it may have only been released about 15 years ago, but it's certainly without a doubt a classic, and Will Ferrell is at his best.
Who knows if director Jon Favreau, who also has a cameo role, punched-up debut writer David Berenbaum's script, but it is delightful.Zooey Deschanel is a sweetheart, while James Caan and Mary Steenburgen just pretty much get to reprise their TV roles, in, respectively, "Las Vegas" and "Joan of Arcadia."The visual references to other movies are amusing, from the Disney-like animation at the North Pole to treating the Urban Park Rangers like the Dark Riders from "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring."The holiday song selections are mostly classic, though it's nice to hear new Leon Redbone interpretations on two tracks.(originally written 1/19/2004).
Will Ferrell stars in this Christmas comedy known as Elf. Buddy lives his whole life as a misfit Elf helping out Santa in the North Pole.
His journey is conveyed by hilarious humor when Papa Elf has to explain to Buddy that the, "yellow snow was not for eating and the gum under the railings was not free candy." This movie contains comedy and romance and is good for all ages!
Hidden beneath all of the comedy was a lesson in which although someone like Buddy may be unique, they still can fit in and belong somewhere in the world.Will Ferrell is absolutely very funny in this movie.
The movie is similar to Enchanted in a way(minus the animation)and it tells the story of a man who is raised by Santa's elf's and he goes to NYC to find his biological father who is a writer apparently .
Buddy(Ferrell) then meets a girl named Jovie(Zooey Deshnail who is a dead ringer to Katy Perry)and becomes smitten with her.I may not be a fan of Will Ferrell but I laughed at a few parts to this movie like the part where he is singing the Baby its cold outside song from Tom Jones and the part where he humiliates his father at work by some guy who he called an elf too LOL that was hilarious.The movie is a bit stupid but I like fish out of water movies as I like how the characters interact with our world and that.
Will Ferell may have pushed it a bit far and not in that good way he usually does...Elf has the same holiday movie morals and all that crap about believinng in Santa, except The Santa Clause was better, it also had some laughs and it's worth it, if you sneak in to the theater....
Probably not, if "Elf" is the best stab at it so far.Up in the North Pole, Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrell) discovers he isn't an elf at all, but a displaced human orphan who found his way into Santa's bag at the end of a busy Christmas and was then raised in Santa's workshop.
He undertakes to reconnect with his biological father, Walter Hobbs (James Caan), a gruff Manhattan executive who has found his way on Santa's naughty list.Odd to step back in time and see Will Ferrell in this early starring role, playing so resolutely to PG sensibilities that he almost seems made of gingerbread.
But the story is a one-joke premise stretched well past its limit: Ferrell doing his man-child thing wearing an elf suit in the big city.One sequence demonstrates for me the limited nature of the film.
Instead, it's a short joke, some mayhem, and then cue the next scene.The film has a lot of go-nowhere moments like that, whether it's Buddy getting mistaken for a store employee at Gimbel's or Buddy's stop-motion pals on the North Pole.
I especially enjoyed Bob Newhart as an especially sedate elf who looks after Buddy.There are also some funny bits for fans of Ferrell's wilder roles.
Because of its strong characters, wonderful humor, and amazing atmosphere, Elf deserves the title as the greatest Christmas film ever made.
The main character, Buddy, played by Will Ferrell, is a whimsical, happy-go-lucky, naive Christmas elf who lives in the North Pole.
Now, the icing on the cake that ensures Elf as the greatest Christmas movie of all time is the wonderful atmosphere presented in the film.
Ironically, I think Will Ferrell isn't the funniest guy in the world and believe him to be heavily oversaturated in American comedies, but he was incredibly charming here.Minor complaints: First fifteen minutes have some horrendous CGI, cringe scenes, and really odd elf stuff that differs from the rest of the film, which is perfect.
I don't usually watch a lot of Ferrell movies because I feel like he goes a bit too far with his comedy, but this movie was so funny that it had me rolling throughout.
That score is not representative of how people actually feel about this movie, so many people I know watch this every year, it is a true Christmas classic!.
Released in 2003 and directed by Jon Favreau, "Elf" is a Christmas dramedy/fantasy starring Will Farrell as an orphaned infant who tows away on Santa Claus' sleigh and isn't discovered until he's at the North Pole, where he's adopted by Papa Elf and named Buddy.
Zooey Deschanel (somewhat unrecognizable in blonde hair) is a good fit as his skeptical, frayed love interest, but the best work comes from James Caan, Peter Dinklage, Amy Sedaris, Andy Richter, Kyle Gass and especially Bob Newhart as his sweet, yet long-suffering, adoptive father on the North Pole.
This is surely one of his best movie.Movie has many funny moments, like when buddy first goes to U.S. he does some stupid things because he does not know anything about cities and technologies,dinner scene with his family.It feels so nice if you can watch a good comedy movie with your family because most of the comedy movies cannot be watched with family.I highly recommend this movie for kids and adults if they want to watch a good family movie with comedy and Christmas spirit in it.Overall I give this movie 8/10..
Jon Favreau's Elf is as snappy as holiday comedies come, mainly thanks to Will Ferrell's pretty damn hilarious performance as Buddy, a human baby stranded in the north pole and raised by pint sized elves as one of their own.
Director Favreau participates in a cameo as Caan's family doctor, Edward Asner shows up as a jolly enough Santa, and Bob Newhart steals many laughs as Buddy's awkward surrogate elf father..
Dad happens to be the more cynical James Caan who is rather taken aback by a long lost son who thinks he is an elf and maybe borderline retarded.Ferrell gets a job helping out at Santa's grotto in a department store while trying to connect with his father.
Elf, a movie directed by Jon Favreau features Buddy The Elf (Will Ferrel) as a human who was adopted by Santa Clause and his Elves at birth.
He plays "Buddy the Elf," a human baby in an orphanage who accidentally hitches a ride in Santa's toy bag one Christmas Eve and finds himself at the North Pole, adopted by "Papa Elf" (Bob Newhart) who raises him as an elf.
As a human, Buddy is a lot bigger than your average elf and, finally realizing he's human, he sets out for New York City (with no knowledge of the world outside the North Pole) and sets out to find his father, who he's been told is Walter Hobbs (James Caan) - a big publishing executive working at the Empire State Building.
He seemed to accept Buddy too easily - with a bit of encouragement from his wife (Mary Steenburgen.) Still, while some of the characters didn't hit home as powerfully as they could have, the performances were good and they added up to a fun story.It was nice to see Ed Asner play a fairly important role as Santa in this, and the movie even managed to pay just a wee bit of homage to the TV special Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer, as Leon the Snowman who slid around at the North Pole looked basically like the sliding snowman who slid around and narrated Rudolf (although the narration for this movie, when necessary, was done by Papa Elf.) The animals in the woods at the North Pole also reminded me of the animals in Rudolf.It's a cute story, good fun for the family in the Christmas season.
So, aside from falling instantly in love with Zooey Deschanel when I first saw Elf way back in 2003, this movie still gets 10 stars from me because each and every year I watch it at least twice...
and cry.It's like watching Tinkerbell come down from atop the Matterhorn at Disneyland, the penultimate scene in Elf. It awakens inside of me memories of youth, innocence and memories of a time when everything was new.Obviously I am cheesy and weak - but most of the year I am a bitter, aggressive atheist who compares believing in God to believing in Santa.But not when I watch this movie.I love the story, Mr. Narwhal, Bob Newhart (a god as true as any!), and Zooey singing.
I love Bad Santa, A Christmas Story and Silent Night Deadly Night as much as the next guy, but to call Elf anything less than a classic, must see Holiday Movie on par with It's a Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street is a crime..
This wasn't a case of holiday dreck, but a case of the Christmas film that combined heart, soul, wit, and laughs into a beautiful holiday parable.The story is about Buddy the Elf (Ferrell) who accidentally crawled into Santa's sack at the orphanage when he was an infant and gets taken back to the North Pole.
Buddy falls for Jovie in a sort of non-conventional way, but he winds up getting conventional help from his younger brother Michael (Tay).Elf is more than holiday fluff, it's a successful romp of Christmas spirit sealed inside a good family film.
Elf is one of the all-time classic Christmas movies.
Quite possibly the funniest Christmas movie of all-time, and you will see Elf Marathons on TV for the next 50 years.
Elf is the story of a human named Buddy who was raised by elves in the North Pole at Santa's Workshop.
When Buddy becomes an adult, he is told that he was adopted so he goes on a quest to find his father in New York City.This movie is hilarious.
I end up feeling bad for Buddy because he is so clueless to how the real world works.Another thing that makes this movie so hysterical is that in the North Pole the props, costumes, sets and back drop are so elementary and simple, it really accentuates the innocence and comical quality of the elf world.
James Caan is OK here, less annoying than in some films, but for some reason he does not seem to get really good roles anymore.There are some gross holiday bits, like downing a 2 liter Coke & a 5 minute belch which is entirely logical, and then some bits which are funny physical comedy.
Stars: Will Ferrell, James Caan, Ed Asner, Zooey Dechanel, Bob Newhart, Amy Sedaris, Andy Richter, Kyle Gaas, Artie Lange.Let me start by saying that I thought all the performances in this film were good.
Will Ferrell was good, James Caan kept the movie afloat, Bob Newhart was a great presence.
He was the only reason why I liked it at all: "You're sitting on a throne of lies!" And James Caan is always a great choice, but being that it is a typical Christmas movie, if you want to get into the holiday cheer, see something worth while.
Ebert starts his review of Elf this way:"If I were to tell you 'Elf' stars Will Ferrell as a human named Buddy who thinks he is an elf and Ed Asner as Santa Claus, would you feel an urgent desire to see this film?
I hadn't seen Elf so I thought I'd give it a go.So Will Ferrell plays a human who was brought up by elves and decides to go and find his real family.Now there are a few Christmas movies which I enjoy but unfortunately this isn't one of them.
If you want a good family Christmas movie, watch Home Alone instead..