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Christmas movies are
made every year-
maybe four or five
mainstream ones- so
it’s a given that
every couple of
years there’s going
to be a Christmas
movie made that
demands to be
watched every
Christmas. In 2003,
Elf
was that movie. It
was the perfect
Ferrell movie where
he’s casted as the
sweet and probably
over-innocent Buddy
the Elf. Basically,
since I watched
Elf
for the first time,
it doesn’t feel like
Christmas until I
watch it again.
Buddy looks like a
normal human being,
(somewhat tall
though) but he acts
and dresses like an
elf because he was
mistakenly raised in
the North Pole. So
Buddy has all of the
insider knowledge on
Santa, on Christmas,
and everything
magical that normal
human’s lose track
of as they get
older. When Buddy
learns that he’s not
really an elf, he
makes the adventure
to New York to find
his real father… who
turns out to be
Walter Hobbs (James
Caan)- and get
this--- he’s on the
naughty list!
Anyway, Buddy has to
reconnect with his
Dad by teaching him
about Christmas all
while trying to find
his place among
humans and making a
few relationships on
the way.
Will Ferrell is
fantastic as Buddy.
He’s insanely goofy
and corny but he’s
also extremely
lovable. It’s
hilarious watching
Buddy go through
different human
traditions and
procedures that he’s
not used to and even
funnier just
watching Ferrell get
to work at being
ridiculous. Ferrell
is great and so is
James Cann… he’s the
perfect Christmas
grump as Walter
Hobbs. And Ed Asner
will always be how I
envision Santa Claus
to look like now and
forever… just based
on this movie.
The
movie itself is
great but there are
a few oddities to it
as well. Jon Favreau
is in the director’s
chair. Before
Ironman
and
Ironman 2,
Favreau earned his
chops with
Elf
(Swingers
too) but before he
became a great
director he was a
fantastic character
actor- especially in
B comedies like
The
Replacements.
He has a small cameo
in this movie as a
doctor and he’s
classic in it. He
did a good job
directing
Elf,
but it’s not
over-the-top worth
raving about.
Elf
comes to Blu-Ray in
an Ultimate
Collector’s Edition.
The Blu-ray of the
movie comes in a
normal case inside
of a novelty
aluminum tin packed
with goodies.
Included in the tin
is your copy of the
movie, an Elf
soundtrack sampler,
a stocking, 2 pages
of gift tags with
funny lines from the
movie, and a
magnetic picture
frame. The Blu-ray
is packed with extra
content- some great
making-of footage
and deleted scenes.
There are also a
couple of fun games
that the kids will
enjoy playing.
Elf
was a fantastic
movie the first time
I watched it, every
Christmas my family
watches it and it’s
good to have it on
Blu-ray. Will
Ferrell is awesome
here and it’s funny
to see a Jon Favreau
movie before Jon
Favreau started
making blockbusters.
All of the extras in
this packaging make
it a great warm-up
to the holidays
present for any
family.
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