ELF (2003) ** Presents as old school, but with tongue firmly in cheek. Which cheek, um, yes, that's right, that's about it. Amazing what an involuntary bodily function joke or two will do. Keep contempo kids watching, for one thing, I guess. I enjoyed it notwithstanding all of the effort, but I would also have to say that Will Ferrell seemed like he was on way too short a leash. Can this really be the man who spent seasons of abject desperation over his inability to make the "real" cheerleading squad on Saturday Night Live? Surely these setbacks wouldn't have set him back (and they don't), surely he'd recognize them (and he doesn't), and unquestionably he'd seek redemptive resolution in some hyperspace that isn't even alluded to here. It's good seeing James Caan, I wish they would have made him a gangster. Ed Asner is a credible Father Christmas, in a kind of truck driver way that many of us have long suspected; and Bob Newhart pretty much runs off with things in his signature stammering-I think I must be in a documentary this time-manner. Does pretty much what it's supposed to.
back to Brilliant Observations on 1776 Films page, or Index
go back home, or send me email
Reviews won't do it any more! I need sustained brilliance! I want to buy your novel!