VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Elf (2003)

[IMDB link] [Netflix link]

PEOPLE: Directed by Jon Favreau (Iron Man 1-2, Made). Starring Will Ferrell as the elf (it was going to be Jim Carrey… And that actually might not have been as funny.) Also with James Caan (Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs) as Elf’s dad, Bob Newhart, Ed Asner, Mary Steenburgen (Back To The Future 3), Zooey Deschanel, Amy Sedaris, and even Peter Dinklage (Death At A Funeral, Nip/Tuck).

PLOT SUMMARY: Elf that’s really a human returns to the real world.

VISUALS: Seeing Bob Newhart as an elf? Priceless.

SOUNDTRACK: Christmas songs.

The 12-second belch was courtesy of Maurice LaMarche! Awesome.

MORALS: Something about open-mindedness with your children? Oh, and also, everyone should believe in Santa, of course.

GOOD STUFF: Will Ferrell acting like his typical typecast man-boy character. It works even better when there’s a good reason for him being such an idiot.

BAD STUFF: Family friendly.

CONCLUSION: Cute. Glad I watched it. Good Christmastime movie. Ferrell is almost always funny.

RATINGS:
Clint: Netflix: 3/5 stars. IMDB: 7/10.
Carolyn: Netflix: 3/5 stars. IMDB: 7/10. “Nothing spectacular, but it was a cute Christmas story.”

The native public rating for this movie is: IMDB: 6.8/10, Netflix: 3.6/5 stars (Netflix‘s predicted rating for us was 3.3/5 stars–and they were right to estimate us lower than average in this case).

RECOMMENDATION: Watch, but only during Christmastime.

SIMILAR MOVIES: Fred Claus.

MOVIE QUOTE: “It’s just like Santa’s workshop! Except it smells like mushrooms… and everyone looks like they wanna hurt me…”Mood: Merry Christmas :)
Music: Charlie Brown – The Christmas Song