Elf (2003)
I honestly don’t know a single person above the age of ten who hasn’t seen this movie, but if you haven’t, this is one of the more iconic scenes in the film.
Our story opens with Papa Elf (Bob Newhart) telling the story of how his adoptive son Buddy (Will Ferrell) came to live at the North Pole. Buddy is a human who, as a baby, crawled into Santa’s (Ed Asner) bag when he was delivering presents to the orphanage where Buddy lived. Buddy is now in his 30s and is shocked to discover that he’s human. It is unclear if all of the elves know and Buddy is just stupid or if all of the adult elves have been adults since Buddy came there, but it is insinuated that he’s not terribly bright throughout the movie.
After Buddy discovers his species, he has questions about his parents. He finds out his mother died, and his father never knew he was born. But his father, Walter Hobbs (James Caan), is still alive and lives in NYC. Buddy decides to go visit Walter and get to know him. Seems pretty standard for an adopted kid to do, but he doesn’t call first. He just shows up at Walter’s office. Walter, a longtime resident of the Naughty List, does not take it well. He takes Buddy to a doctor (Jon Favreau) to confirm and also to get Buddy checked out because of his belief in elves and Santa. Walter begrudgingly takes Buddy home with him to meet his wife Emily (Mary Steenburgen) and his middle school aged son Michael (Daniel Tay).
Walter gets increasingly frustrated with Buddy and his actions to the point that it’s affecting his work and his relationship with Emily and Michael. Buddy meets some new people at Gimbel’s, where he accidentally starts working because of his elf attire. Jovie (Zooey Deschanel) is jaded but finds Buddy’s energy endearing. The manager (Faizon Love) just thinks Buddy’s a little odd, but likes the energy he has at work since it is Christmas season and all. And hijinks ensue for all the characters because of things Buddy does.
I think this movie is iconic. I know that there are people who don’t like it because they’ve told me they don’t, but I don’t understand why. This is just such a great Christmas movie on a fundamental level. The music is perfect, the characters are memorable and everyone can relate to someone, there are so many quotable lines. It’s amazing. How can anyone not love it? I’ve seen it too many times to count, and I still love it. 5 stars
