Elf, a Christmas classic in the making

This has been a depressing decade for family-centric Christmas classic wannabes. Truth is, there hasn't been many. Thankfully, Jon Favreau's 2003 Christmas family comedy, Elf exists.

When Will Ferrell delivers a great performance, he delivers a great performance. The man has legitimate talent, which makes you wonder why he even allows himself to star in distasteful atrocities of cinematic doom. Just watch Ferrell in The Producers and Stranger Than Fiction. He can convincingly sing and dance and search for the meaning of life.

Most members of the (not so) prestigious Hollywood "frat pack" are capable of some sort of acting greatness, but not when they resort to the downgraded cheapness of bathroom humor.

But Elf is a delightful mixture of semi-distasteful humor (toned down for the kids) and genuine warmth that celebrates the over-the-top sentimentalism of the Christmas spirit. Ferrell sells it, through and through. Even if it means running through the streets of Manhattan in yellow tights.

The film opens in the North Pole. Buddy the Elf (Ferrell) is obviously bigger than all the other elves at Santa's Workshop. He finds out that he's really human. Buddy's mother gave birth to him, without his father's knowledge; his mother has since passed away.

But Buddy's adopted father, Papa Elf (Bob Newhart), encourages Buddy to find his adopted father in New York City. Before Buddy begins his adventure, Santa (Edward Asner) warns Buddy that his father is on the naughty list.

Buddy arrives in New York City, dressed in his laughably cartoonish elf costume, eager to meet his father, Walter Hobbs (James Caan). Walter is a frustrated workaholic at a children's book publishing company and clearly thinks Buddy is insane. Walter initially tries to escape Buddy's constant pursuit of a father-son relationship, but after a DNA test makes it clear that Buddy is indeed his son, Walter brings him home.

While Walter's family (son, Daniel Tay; wife, Mary Steenburgen) quickly warms up to Buddy, Walter sees Buddy as another problem for him to solve. Walter's already under pressure to produce a new children's book idea for the company.

Meanwhile, Buddy falls for a department store employee (Zooey Deschanel), who can sing a wonderful rendition of "Baby, It's Cold Outside."

Very few comedies make me laugh out loud. That might be a reason why I avoid them or show very little interest in them. But Elf makes me laugh. It's filled with clever one-liners and ridiculously absurd scenes. The film is also surprisingly touching; it's almost a coming-of-age, search-for-identity film, disguised in red-and-green wrapping paper.

Caan embodies a disgruntled modern Scrooge terrifically. The character doesn't call for ditzy comedy, but the way Caan delivers those cold-hearted lines is funny in its own chillingly sarcastic way.

While some may argue that Deschanel's deadpan deliveries and astounding indie chick quirkiness is not everyone's cup of tea, she is a damn good singer. She makes "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" sound like an essential for a Christmastime mixtape.

The arrival of an egocentric children's book author (Peter Dinklage) is a hilarious scene. Dinklage establishes how much of a fearless comedian he is, who can nearly overshadow Ferrell's overbearingly optimistic joker. In fact, Dinklage even beats up Ferrell's Buddy because of an unintentional insult Buddy makes. It's a scene that you expect to get old, but doesn't.

Elf fits into the Christmas film genre scheme perfectly. Christmas in New York. Ice skating at Rockefeller Center. Gimbels department store. Central Park. Mean corporate workaholics. Kickass Christmas soundtrack. It's a silly, endearing family movie. But that's not all there is to it.

Instead of being one big, sloppy continuation of cliches, the film is surprisingly original and warm--a quality that we don't see very much in the genre anymore. Yes, it is predictable, but it's the journey that matters. There is some sort of heart and good intentions to be found in Elf, underneath all those sparkling Christmas lights.

Time to make room for Elf...right next to Frank Capra's 1946 classic, It's a Wonderful Life. And no, that is not an exaggeration. Elf is, undeniably, a Christmas classic in the making. A-

Images of Zooey Deschanel

Zooey Deschanel has to be one of the most underrated and underused young actresses today. She has starred in various movies that ranges from the most independent to the most mainstream, but strangely, she has failed to garner the attention or accolades that her lesser contemporaries has received. My best guess is that her lack of accolades may be associated with the fact that she does not always choose to be part of a potential critic's darling. But what makes her role choices interesting is that it seems that she chooses roles that she personally seems to be passionate about, no matter how silly or weird the film or the role might be. She is not acting to solely make money or win awards and that is a rare quality in today's box-office obsessed film industry.

Deschanel first caught my eye as Patrick Fugit's rock-and-roll loving sister in Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous. Apart from being incredibly gorgeous, there was something about her that was amazingly magnetic. When her face filled the screen with those great, blue eyes and convinced her little brother that he is going to be cool someday, I believed her every word.

Several years later, she delivered a gloriously bewitching performance opposite Paul Schneider in David Gordon Green's lyrical All the Real Girls. The film had a triumphant script to start with, full of the painful and joyous obstacles of young love, but the heart of the film was the development of Deschanel's character. For Deschanel's character to go from a sweet small-town girl to a mature but confused young woman was fantastic to behold. Deschanel nailed the part by making it her own. I cannot bear to imagine any other actress in the role.

Aside from being a great up-and-coming actress, she has a beautiful voice that was rather unknown until she did some singing in the 2003 Christmas film, Elf. Her indie rock band, She & Him (with M. Ward), released an album earlier this year, optimistically titled Volume One. (It is a truly fantastic album, so I urge everyone to check it out.) Deschanel is also part of If All the Stars Were Pretty Babies with fellow actress Samantha Shelton, a cabaret act that often performs around the Los Angeles area.

Deschanel is a woman of endless talents. But I miss the days where she really transformed herself into her roles. Has anyone noticed that she looks exactly the same in all her roles now? Hairstyle, make-up, etc.? That wasn't always the case in the past...

She rocked the black eyeliner look in Mumford.

As the memorable big sister in Almost Famous.

Looking casual in Big Trouble.

She rocked the black eyeliner look in Manic (again) in the promo images, but her innocent hairstyle here is rather fitting.

She looked a bit like Amy Adams in The New Guy. I remember that I wanted the main character to end up with her instead of that one popular girl...

She was adorable in retail store employee attire in The Good Girl.

She was blonde and wore the cheerful department store elf attire in Elf. Despite their age difference, Deschanel and Will Ferrell had surprisingly believable romantic chemistry. No kidding.

She was simply charming as the girl-next-door in All the Real Girls. Deschanel even sported two different hairstyles in the film. By the way, the movie itself is beautifully photographed.

She looked extremely young in Abandon for some reason.


"She's Got Issues" and "Idiot Boyfriend" music videos, respectively. She acquired a completely different "look" for both roles.

Basically, her early career was filled with various of transformations. She was like a young female Gary Oldman or Johnny Depp but somewhere down the road, it seemed like either her or her directors decided that she must look long-haired and brunette for every single movie she participates in. Not that I'm complaining much since Deschanel looks fabulous and has the talent to back it up, but I miss the chameleon part of her.

But it is great to see that Deschanel's career is flourishing. 2007's critically-acclaimed festival darling, The Go-Getter is finally getting a limited release and M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening will be hitting the theaters this summer (I'm going to cross my fingers and hope it doesn't suck too much). Later this year, Deschanel has several projects lined up, more prominently in the independent film, Gigantic, and a Jim Carrey comedy vehicle, Yes Man.