My Review of "Elf"

Elf came out back in 2003 and it's a bonified masterpiece in holiday storytelling. I've loved it since it first came out and I didn't think I was going to be disappointed when watching this movie 20 years later. A lot has changed though so you never know.

The movie starts off with the introduction to the character Buddy the elf. When he was a little baby at the orphanage the little toddler mischievously snuck into Santa's sack during Christmas. Now he's a full grown man but raised on the values of elves in the North Pole. A very fun premise.

You'll see a ton of homages to classic Christmas movies of the past throughout the opening scenes of this movie. Already you can tell that this movie is aware of itself and knows how to pull on our emotions.

As soon as Buddy discovers who he really is he sets off to New York to try to rekindle a lost relationship with his biological father. Unfortunately his father isn't a very nice guy. In fact he's been placed on Santa's naughty list.

Here we meet buddy's father Walter who is pretty much a representative of all of us viewing this movie. I love how this movie is able to pull the rug from under us even while we're watching. Walter is the culmination of all of our modern day social corruptions. He's got a pessimistic outlook on life and looks to obtain the almighty dollar.

The two meeting one another is a comedy match made in heaven as Buddy is the outlandish naïve character paired with Walter's serious character. This is not really a buddy flick though. It's all sorts of movies fit into one and yet it still works.

In the beginning it looks like a fish out of water tale and it is. It's kind of hilarious to see this movie now because Zooey Deschanel who embodied the manic pixie girl later on in her career plays the serious character. Instead Buddy is the manic pixie boy. This was long before people continued to complain about the genre of film. His character is to teach the world that we shouldn't take things so seriously and have fun once in a while. It's contagious, and he certainly spills it outside the screen.

Again this movie adds so much to it that we don't even notice. The last part of the movie is literally Rudolph the red nosed reindeer. They have homages to films of the time. This movie was released around the same time that Lord of the Rings had come out and they made an homage to them with the Central Park Rangers closer to the end.

There's so much to love about this movie and each time you see it you can probably pick up another small tidbit about it that you didn't notice before. That's why I thought this movie was a masterclass in holiday storytelling. It's very aware of all of the movies of the holidays and the movies of its own era. They were able to meld them all in without keeping the viewer clueless as to what it's referring to.

The cast was perfectly selected for each one of the characters. You can't imagine anyone else playing any of these characters. Each of the character's growth progressions are very fluid and well paced as well. I could easily understand their motivations for everything.

Overall, this movie is a classic. There isn't really anything bad I can say about this movie. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie just as much as I enjoyed it when it was first released. That's a testament to how good it really is. That's why I have to give this movie a 10 out of 10. I don't really give this score out ever. I really think this movie will be able to pass the test of time 20 more years in the future.