ELF - DVD review

It is every year around the holiday season that Hollywood inundates us with at least a few holiday-style films. They are usually meant to be warm and heartfelt and to lift our spirits in hopes that we may make it through the most stressful period of the year without a bah-humbug attitude. Unfortunately, when you really think about it, there are very few Christmas and holiday genre films that have made the hall of fame when it comes to being one of the greats. And the best ones were made back in the 1950s through the very early 1980s. I need not list any of them here because if you are truly a Christmas movie buff, then you know exactly which films I'm talking about.

I'm pleased to report that New Line's "Elf," directed by Jon Favreau, is close to exceptional enough to place among the list of memorable holiday films. Probably not as good as the all-time great contenders, but it does make a very good effort in attempting to delight its audience. It's a remarkably delightful film when it comes to laughter, heartfelt emotion, and Christmas spirit. However, it lacks in depth, taking us through a journey that feels rushed because, god forbid, we wouldn't want to bore the audience with a deeply involved story. And a deeply involved story is most likely why so many Christmas movies tend to flop. After all, Hollywood has produced many films for the MTV generation, which has close to the attention span of a matchstick, so it would be a little demanding to make them watch a movie that asks them to think. As for "Elf," it manages to save itself from the disaster of intellectual boredom by keeping us delighted with a good dose of holiday comedy, a tad bit of potty humor, a good touch of family spirit, and more holiday warmth than an overflow of rum in a bowl of eggnog. I can only imagine Martha Stewart would have to say, "Elf is a good thing," even if this year, she'll have to say that from behind bars.

"Elf" is the small tale of a man named Buddy (Will Farrell). When Buddy was a toddler in an orphan house, he snuck his way into Santa's (Ed Asner) toy bag and accidentally ended up at the North Pole during Christmas Eve. Buddy was raised by elves and adopted by Papa Elf (Bob Newhart) in the hope that he would fit in with everyone else. This, of course, makes for some of the comedy of the film as Buddy is an enormous six-foot giant compared to everyone else, and he manages to foul up everything he gets into. One night Papa Elf breaks the news to Buddy that he has a biological father named Walter Hobbs (James Caan). Between Papa and Santa, they both send Buddy off to the big city, New York, to find his real father after thirty years of never knowing who he was.

Along the way, we run into more funny moments as Farrell acts so true and genuine to the role that you can't help but laugh. Buddy is an overly happy elf who becomes simply giddy with anything that has to do with Christmas, and his meals consist of holiday candy and a good serving of maple syrup on anything, including spaghetti noodles. By the time he meets his father, he is very excited, but he is greeted by a reluctant James Caan, who refuses to accept the fact that Buddy is his son. Walter Hobbs, as you can imagine, plays the role of a "Scrooge" type of character who is caught up in the corporate world and has neither the time nor the heart for anything to do with Christmas. It's actually a fitting role for Caan, even if it does seem a bit stereotyped for him; but let's face it: he plays the serious, arrogant roles rather well.

Walter has a blood test done on Buddy and is told the harsh truth that Buddy is his son. The outcome is the worst possible news Walter could hear as he is now faced with the responsibility of caring for his newfound son, whom he feels is a mentally gifted person (I would have said "challenged" but it's not good to offend elves when they are the guys who report to the Big Man on Campus, if you know what I mean). Walter brings Buddy home to meet his new step mom, Emily (Mary Steenburgen), and his little brother, Michael (Daniel Tay). As can be expected, mom thinks he's gifted and wonderful, and his little brother thinks he's a freak. Nonetheless, that all changes one day when Buddy helps Michael out in an over-the-top snowball fight in Central Park.

After the bonding event, Michael is even kind enough to help Buddy win over a female interest named Jovie (Zooey Deschanel), whom he meets while working in the Gimbels department store. There are some funny moments of innocent cat-and-mouse games between Jovie and Buddy, and their night out on the town is definitely a hoot. The chemistry here is that Buddy has never experienced the emotions of being attracted to a girl. On the other hand, Jovie has certainly been hit on more times than a Vegas slot machine and it shows in her attitude. Yet, the delightful interaction between Buddy and Jovie does make for a small amount of love interest in the film, although it never overshadows the overall plot. It is also never pushed beyond pure innocence and the emotions of first love.

As the film moves on, we realize the underlying plot is of people finding the Christmas spirit, which they, of course, have lost so much of. As it is, Santa's sleigh used to fly on Christmas spirit alone, but it is now powered by a rocket engine since so many people have lost their Christmas spirit. I always thought it was reindeer that made Santa's sleigh fly, so I can only assume the film's creators were unaware of this. It is also funny how Hollywood seems to think we have all lost the joy of Christmas when in fact many of us can't wait to get our decorations out right after Halloween. Nevertheless, the movie assumes that we have all gone bah-humbug and have no hope when it comes to the spirit of Christmas. No matter how the underlying plot may seem impractical and emphatically attempted by almost every holiday film, it still manages to touch the heart, if even only for a small moment. And to be honest, that's what a holiday movie should do.

There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments throughout the film, and a couple of my favorites are the violent ones. One in particular is one where Buddy beats the crap out of a fake Santa (Artie Lange) in Gimbels department store. Buddy had been mistaken for a Gimbels employee, and on the day Santa arrives, he immediately has him pegged for a fake and starts beating on him. Of course, there's an entire line of kids standing around horrified by the event, yet I found it hysterical for some reason and wished there could have been a little more Artie Lange in the movie.

The other hilarious scene is when Walter hires a professional writer, Miles Finch (Peter Dinklage), to come up with a children's story by Christmas Eve for his publishing firm. Miles is an arrogant, pompous, rude writer who stands probably less than four feet in height. Buddy enters the meeting room were Miles, Walter, and other colleagues are discussing their story plans, and, as you might expect, Buddy mistakes him for an elf. Miles warns Buddy to never call him an elf and then dares him to say it one more time. Buddy repeats it as many times as Miles asks him to while he, little four-foot Miles, is beating the tar out of Buddy.

In retrospect, it is very tough to beat the hard-earned Christmas classics, but I have to admit that "Elf" does make a good attempt at it. Had the film slowed down enough and let the characters evolve, we may have had a great classic on our hands. Conversely, it comes close, but it relies too much on its humorous subtleties and campy holiday spirit that any hopes for a deeper, character-driven tale are overshadowed. Regardless, the film is not empty of what truly makes us love a good Christmas tale. All the charm and warmth are self evident; it's just when you put it up against some the Christmas classics that the movie runs just a little shy of knocking any one of them out of the top ten. In spite of this, "Elf" does manage to put a smile on the face, and it may certainly go down as a memorable holiday film for years to come.

Video:
It is a very pleasant and clean picture presented on two discs with a choice of a fullscreen disc at 1.33:1 ratio or a widescreen disc at a 1.85:1 ratio, enhanced for widescreen televisions. I, of course, preferred the widescreen version and found the picture to be very vivid in color with an overall clean appearance. What murky and grainy areas there were happened so seldom that they were hardly noticeable. It is simply a very acceptable picture regardless of the amount of extras crammed onto the disc.

Audio:
The audio is just as pleasant as the video and is presented in 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound. The sound is very well balanced, packed with great dynamics and a good tonal range. Can't say there were too many issues, and what issues there were could have easily gone unnoticed. The audio is also presented in Spanish and presented with the option of closed captions for the hearing impaired.

Extras:
All of the supplemental extras are spread across the two discs, and let me tell you, New Line holds back on nothing. If you were looking for DVDs with a healthy load of extras, then I'd have to say that New Line is obviously revolutionizing the market. With their introduction of what they call "Infinifilm" a few years ago, I've some to realize it is a wonderful feature. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Infinifilm, you simply watch the movie in its entirety without the Infinifilm feature turned on. Or watch the film by choosing "Infinifilm" from the main menu, and then choose to play the movie. You are now taken on an interactive experience throughout the film and are able to access special features as they pop-up on the screen. When you are done with the special feature, you are returned to where you left off in the film.

You may also access these features through the Infinifilm menu by choosing the "Beyond the Movie" feature and the "All-Access Pass" feature. Now I will admit New Line does need to make this a little easier, because if you're not used to it, it is a little tricky to find your way around at first. Not to mention, the menus look like charming pop-up books that seem to have menus buried in one page after the next. As George W. might say, "Whew!" As an added nonsense goodie, look for the little red arrow on each page of the various menus. Click on it and watch a character on the pop-up book page do something silly. It's nothing special, but I'm sure kids will eat it up.

For the most part, there are more features than are worthy of mentioning, and they are spread across both discs. On the first disc, you get the usual behind-the-scenes documentaries that you can watch through individual chapters, or chose to watch all of them, which run over thirty minutes. The same thing goes for the deleted scenes; watch them all or simply watch one at a time with or without commentary. There is a nice, entertaining feature on the music of "Elf," and it is interesting enough in its own way. There is also a movie commentary with director Jon Favreau and actor/comedian Will Farrell. On the second disc, there are plenty of fun and games for the kids. There is an elf karaoke, a read-along story book, Buddy's adventure games, and a secret "Elevator o' Fun." There are also some short features on the obsessions people have during the holidays. We see how people are fanatics when it comes to decorating, how kids think about Christmas, how Hollywood celebrates Christmas, and how some people are part of Santa Mania.

There is also a substantial amount of DVD-ROM features. There is a "Make Your Own Storybook," a "Be an Elf Photo Activity Center," a "Script to Screen" feature, an image gallery, and some printable activities.

Fact is, folks, there are more features here than I really need, or even remember for that matter. I couldn't help but wonder why so many of them were geared towards kids when I really did not think of "Elf" as a kids' movie; it's a family movie, yes, but not necessarily a kids' movie. Nevertheless, I have to give New Line credit for giving their competitors a run for their money. Their "Infinifilm" feature is really remarkable compared to some of the best studio DVDs on the market. And, yes, for all you "Criterion" fans out there, I have to say that the Infinifilm feature even has your precious Criterions beat. Sure, I'll have to admit that the special features on this disc are a tad bit overkill, but at least New Line is stepping up and setting the bar for others. Infinifilm is really a nice interactive way to access special features while watching the movie, thus keeping you clear of having to surf through a plethora of menus. I can only hope other studios will follow suit in the near future.

Parting Thoughts:
Jumping into the lion's den of great Christmas classics, I'd have to say "Elf" put up a pretty good fight, leaving the den with only a few marks and scratches. Fact is, it's a tough bid whenever Hollywood makes the attempt to try and put out a decent holiday film. It is truly a genre where people are very passionate about the classics they love. For some there's "It's a Wonderful Life" and for others there's "Miracle on 34th Street" or "Christmas Vacation"; as for myself, I'm partial to "A Christmas Story." As far as I'm concerned, you just can't beat the leg lamp and the Red Ryder BB gun. I will say, though, that "Elf" may be delightful enough to stand the test of time, but only time will tell. It might not make my top-ten list, but it is certainly welcome somewhere in my top twenty.