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plot summary: Will Ferrell plays "Buddy" a human who was raised among elves in the North Pole, who heads out to New York City to find his real father (James Caan), a grumpy business man who happens to be on Santa's "Naughty" list.
review: Mike and I saw this last night, believe it or not. Ordinarily, I turn my nose up at family feel-good films, but something about "Elf" appealed to me. First off, it was directed by Jon Favreau, known for the indie-fave Swingers and the IFC show "Dinner for Five". Okay. Then, I found out that Zooey Deschanel was in it, who I completely adore! And then I found out that the hysterical and fabulous Amy Sedaris was in it, and that pretty much sealed the deal for me.
But sadly, the movie wasn't quite as good as I hoped it might be. I guess, despite all the cool hipster tie-ins (and I didn't even know going in that Andy Richter and Kyle Gass of Tenacious D were in it too!), it really is targeted towards family and kids. Mike and I couldn't help notice the stuff that the crowd laughed at versus what we ourselves laughed at. The thing that got the biggest laugh? The scene where Buddy is all, "SANTA! I know him!" and that's in the commercial!!!
But for family entertainment, this is gold. It's very sweet, very entertaining, Will Ferrell is fantastic, and I appreciated the lack of potty-humor. But, don't be too seduced by the hipster line-up. Sadly, Amy, Andy, and Kyle are all pathetically under-used. Especially Amy. (Oh, but Zooey? Is AWESOME in this! Ohmygod, her singing voice is so incredible it makes me want to cry! Her voice is so rich and Judy Garland-esque. I'm tempted to buy the soundtrack just for her singing!!!) (janice.11.03)
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