Will Farrell as buddy the elf Its a great movie and this is the move that broke through will Farrell ita not a typical Farrell movie. It's a good movie the dad was good ay being a naughty lost person. The girl friends was good too. The friend wascgpod too. This is a fun time to just have a great movies a said iys a serous movie too not just a comedy this is a 10/10 for me if you dont like it you hate Christmas or hate movies.

the fact that Will Farrell's character is told at the North Pole that when he goes to civilization, if he sees gum on the ground or anywhere, don't eat it because it's not free candy; it's dirty. And then everybody cracks up, going "Eeewww!" when he picks all the gum wads off the subway railing and eats them. Wasn't he just told minutes ago to not do that?

At first glance, Elf would appear to be one of countless holiday- season cash-ins with daft costumes and even sillier special effects, featuring a well-known actor performing pantomime on a bigger budget and grabbing an easy pay-day in the process. That is stars Will Ferrell, one of cinema's most naturally hilarious funnymen who seems to be caught up in an endless loop of mediocrity - Blades of Glory and Stranger than Fiction excluded - as the titular human-turned- elf, bodes even worse. Throw in some little people dressed in elf costumes and a romance involving surely the only woman to accept a date with a man who claims to be from the North Pole, and it would seem like a movie tailor-made for a critical beat-down.Only Elf is genuinely charming, and even more alarmingly, incredibly funny at times. Using Ferrell's man-child comedy chops to the fullest extent, this may actually be the best work Ferrell has ever done. He plays Buddy, an orphan accidentally whisked off to Santa's homeland as a baby. Taken in by the sympathetic Papa Elf (the wonderful Bob Newhart), it doesn't take long until Buddy is towering over his adoptive father and his co-workers. Learning of his biological pop Walter (played by James Caan) and that he is in fact a human, the 6-foot elf journeys to New York City to be with his real family, only for his miserable publisher dad to shun him. Buddy learns that his world no longer buys into tales of flying reindeers and a jolly fat man who knows if we've been bad, disbelieving in the 'magic' of Christmas and draining the power from Santa's sleigh in the process.Directed by Jon Favreau and written by David Berenbaum, Elf is pretty standard stuff story-wise, and is hampered by a predictable sub-plot involving Walter's struggling publishing company and his dire need to lighten up. Yet there are many touching moments, particularly in the scenes involving Buddy and his young half- brother, and the former's awkward courting of a pretty toy store assistant (Zooey Deschanel) initially freaked out by his maniacal claims but who eventually succumbs to his hyperactive charms. It all inevitably leads to a climax built around a special-effect laden set-piece as Santa struggles to deliver the presents with a dying sleigh, but this is expected from a movie designed to win over those looking for something easy-going and festive. The world has grown cynical, and perhaps so have I, but Elf reminded me that it is no fun being so.

Thirty years prior to the events of the film, a baby crawls into Santa's sack at an orphanage. Santa unwittingly takes the baby back to the North Pole, where it is decided that Papa Elf (Bob Newhart) will raise him. The baby, named Buddy (Will Ferrell), is raised unaware that he is actually a human, until his enormous size and poor toy-making abilities cause Papa Elf to tell him the truth. The old elf reveals that Buddy was born to Walter Hobbs and Susan Wells and placed up for adoption, that Walter never knew Buddy was born, and that he now works at a children's book company in New York. Immediately and full of optimism, Buddy sets out for New York to find his father."Elf" is self consciously structured in the most academical and basic way screenplays are written, it is screen writing 1-0-1 and it knows that, so even though it cannot be commended for a remarkable depth, there is just no resisting the charm and the comedy this film has to offer with what is possibly, still to this day, Ferrel's best performance.For someone who has always been somewhat of a Ferrell critic: I have rarely been able to enjoy his comedies and sketches, this film really surprised me and that is exactly because Ferrel is cast perfectly in the role of an over-enthusiastic human who thinks he is an elf. His zany and over the top comedy and his exaggerated facial gestures fit this film perfectly and grace us with moments of really good comedy. Favareau knows how to build upon this and has always the right camera set-up to enhance the comedic effect. He uses the classic shtick of people or objects entering or exiting into frame to incredible effect and even does some innovative things with the technique that really surprised me and had me rolling with laughter.The film also has a classic Christmas message and story: the characters by the end need to save Christmas and to do so they have to believe in the Christmas spirit. It is standard stuff, but the film is written very effectively and its colorful characters navigate through a sufficiently original premise and set-pieces which make for an undeniably pleasant flow. You care about everyone involved thanks to some solid work from all the performers. Yet, once again, what really pushes the film a notch above has to be the comedy, it is inventive and always different, it does not go for the same gag over and over again as it would be easy to do with a fish-out-of-water story.As I said, "Elf" cannot be praised for bringing to the table something new. The structure is predictable down to every emotional beat. There isn't a sense of overwhelming emotion involved with the characters and their struggle is never really given depth exactly because we know how it is going to go.Still, the fact that the film is self conscious about that helps it build around a pleasant family movie which is also a very good Christmas comedy with enough flare to keep you pleasantly entertained for the whole duration.