Elf

Directed by Jon Favreau, Elf follows Will Ferrell’s Buddy, a man raised as an elf at the North Pole, as he arrives in New York City hoping to meet and befriend his birth father (James Caan’s Walter). It’s an appealing premise that’s employed to erratic yet predominantly entertaining effect by Favreau, as the filmmaker, working from David Berenbaum’s screenplay, delivers an old-fashioned, family-friendly comedy that’s bursting with affable, engaging elements – with, clearly, the picture’s most potent weapon Ferrell’s absolutely incredible (and thoroughly hypnotic) turn as the compelling, captivating central character. There’s little doubt, then, that Elf is generally at its best when focused on Buddy’s irresistible fish-out-of-water exploits in New York City, including his encounters with a department-store Santa and Peter Dinklage’s Miles Finch, and it’s apparent, too, that the comparatively action-packed bent of the movie’s climax fares better than one might’ve anticipated and ensures that the whole thing concludes on an appreciatively heartwarming note – which, despite an occasionally sluggish midsection, cements the film’s place as a bona fide holiday classic that couldn’t be more likeable and pleasant, ultimately.

*** out of ****