SYNOPSIS:
A baby sneaks into Santa's gift bag at an orphanage and is only discovered later at the North Pole. One of the head elves, "Papa" Elf (Bob Newhart) names him Buddy (Will Ferrell) and offers to raise him as an elf. But once Buddy reaches adulthood, he suspects that he's not the same as the other elves. Discovering that he's human, he decides to set out for New York to find his real father (James Caan), a grumpy businessman who's currently on the naughty list...
REVIEW:
I've always thought I've seen this film before, but having watched it from start to finish, I realized I've only seen bits and pieces. It was fun to see the entire movie for once.
My wife and I absolutely hate Will Ferrell movies because he's the same annoying character in all of them. And this film didn't disappoint in that regard. Only this time, he's a clueless kid raised as an elf with no idea what the world is like outside of Santa's toyshop. So there's a lot of awkward scenes where Will Ferrell is... well... Will Ferrell. At one point, I started to relate more to his father. If some random guy in an elf outfit showed up at my office and claimed he was my kid from the North Pole, I'd kick him out too!
Buddy gets confused for one of Santa's helpers in a toy store and ends up working there for a bit, where he meets Jovie (Zooey Deschanel). While Will Ferrell is playing his normal over-the-top character, Zooey Deschanel is playing the exact opposite. She's absolutely dull, doing nothing but looking pretty and awkwardly staring at everyone. She delivers bland lines and go along with whatever Will Ferrell is doing. The most character she displayed was when she was singing in the shower, and I think it was because she had to close her eyes while under the water. I normally like Zooey Deschanel, but she was a bore to watch in this film.
Early in the film, you see some stop-motion characters from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) interacting with Buddy. Apparently, this is because of an error in that film's copyright notice, allowing it to be used freely despite its copyright.
Another interesting tie to another Christmas film is that the elf Ming Ming at the beginning of the film is played by Peter Billingsley. He is most famous for playing Ralphie in A Christmas Story (1983).
RECOMMENDATION:
Overall, I feel like the plot was pretty obvious. Relationships were forced. There wasn't any real revelation that motivated the characters to change or grow; they just... did. If you're here for the over-the-top Will Ferrell humor, then you'll probably enjoy this, but it was just awkward and cringey for me. The whole film felt like an attempt to squeeze as many uncomfortable scenes into an hour and a half. I wouldn't recommend it, but your enjoyment depends on whether you like this kind of humor or not.
Random Trivia: Will Ferrell had to film the spaghetti with candies and syrup, etc. scene twice because he vomited the first time he attempted to eat it. Throughout filming, he suffered from headaches because of the massive quantities of sugar he consumed - because he actually ate all the sweets you see in the film. If nothing else, at least he has commitment to the role.
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