Hey folks, Harry here with a look at ELF, once again it really does sound like Favreau has made another fun flick. He's a machine I tell ya. He just grinds up the Earth and produces fun. I hope this does really well for him, so he can do that dream project he's always talking about. The one about the vegetables. God, that thing just fucking rules. Jon, you are da' man!
Harry,
Was also at the Showeast screening on Wednesday of Will Ferrell's new one, ELF.
Gonna get a little 'Early Harry'-like here and start by pointing out the goings on cause they're worth the mention.
All this went down at Showeast which was good enough to be in Orlando when I was. They shuttled all these folks to the big theater at Disney's Pleasure Island complex where it seemed like every person involved in the film was there.
First Bob Shaye stood up and since he was talking to exhibitor's families mostly, his first rallying cry/joke tanked ("So how bout those tracking numbers on Texas Chainsaw Massacre?!"). He then coaxed the egos of the exhibitors a bit and introduced Will Ferrell to the stage.
Will talked for a few and got the audience in a chuckling mood thanks to his digressive speech:
"I just wanted to give a shout out to those unsung people in the theater business - the Nacho Vendors. Working with hot liquids all day... And chips that are stale most of the time. So next time you see one of those guys at your theater, give em a pat on the back and a 'Hey buddy, good job there'"
I'm paraphrasing but you get the picture. Speaking of pictures, lets get to it.
The opening is throwback to storybook-like openings to our favorite christmas stop-motion tv specials from way back. And our narrator, Bob Newhart. His description of Elf life with corresponding images sets the perfect tone for the rest of the film: Funny in a witty manner with just a hint of archness. Whoever cast this film... kudos.
Long story short, the first twenty minutes tell us of how Buddy (Will Ferrell) became the first human to live amongst the Elves in the North Pole. The way he sticks out in more ways then one. And (ala The Jerk) finally finding out at 30 years old that he isn't actually an elf.
Favreau makes the North Pole opening just like anyone who grew up watching Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer would imagine it could be. Right down to Buddy's non-elf friends (Worth a great laugh when you see em).
Buddy decides to find his real father in New York City. But is given a few warnings by Santa (Ed Asner... did I mention how great the casting is here) that he doesn't entirely heed. And when Santa warns Buddy that his father is on the Naughty list, Ferrell's reaction is the perfect exclamation point to the end of the North Pole opening.
And we cut right to his naughty dad (James Caan... How perfect an intro to him is that?) in the midst of showing his naughtiness off at his childrens book publishing job.
Meanwhile, Will makes his way to New York by way of story book paths leading to the harshness he meets here in the US. From the very first encounter with traffic, we know his wonder is gonna mean plenty of laughs for the audience. And the fish-out-of-water joke never runs dry here. Not since Crocodile Dundee has such a joke worked from beginning to end. And that's thanks to both the inventiveness of the script and the purity of Will Ferrell's performance. He exudes a pure innocence comparable only to Tom Hanks in BIG. During the run of the movie, you never lose sight that this guy is an innocent elf in his own mind.
Finding his father doesn't lead to happy reunions (We're talking James Caan here!) but Buddy's persist innocence becomes infectious to everyone he meets from department store employees to James Caan's wife and kid. And us.
I won't go into as much spoiler territory as So and So
but must comment on So and So's gripe...
SPOILER
The ending does have a problem but it's the start of
it, not the end as he leads you to believe. See,
James Caan has to decide between his job and his
famiily at this crucial Christmas Eve meeting and the
one fault I had with the film is here. James Caan is
supposed to make this decision to change all that he
built up within a moment that doesn't entirely make us
feel fulfilled by the too sudden change of heart. You
even see they had to throw in this cut away scene of
one shot showing him sitting at his desk musing over a
card from Buddy. Doesn't quite work but the rest of
the ending sequence does. Unlike So and So, I did see
the building of Xmas cheer because when Santa truly
needs Xmas spirit to charge his sleigh, it broadens
all over New York due to a TV broadcast which everyone
in NYC sees and joins in as opposed to just the small
crowd before going to air. See it and you'll know
what I mean.
END SPOILER
So, that gripe aside, a new Christmas classic. I know I know. Bold words. But how many great Christmas films have come along in the past twenty years? A Christmas Story and Scrooged are the few that come to my mind and many would argue with me about both. What makes this great is what made Big great. The purity of the leads performance. Will Ferrell just gave us a hint of him in Old School. Here, watch out! From now on, I am first in line to his flicks. Of course, I was before. But now, I'll drag friends!
The trailer does not do this film justice. Trust me.
Oh, after the movie, New Line turned one of the hotel ballrooms into a winter wonderland complete with mini-ice ring in the middle with proffessional skaters. And Bob Newhart introduced Will Ferrell. But not before giving his own funny speech complete with Henry Kissinger-telling-a-joke impression. And Will came out and gave another funny speech to accept being named Comedy Star of Tommorrow. "Being named Comedy Star of Tomorrow," he joked, "That means Look Out! I can only get funny-er. And what the future holds, wow! Wait, when does this start though? Does that mean I'll be funny... later? Or that I'm not funny yet but will be tomorrow or the day after that? Or am I trapped in this vortex like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day where I'm stuck in today again and again?"
I'm paraphrasing him since his improv is too good to write down or remember word for word since you laugh too much. Long winded, yes. I apologize but I wanted you to get a feel for just how great a day it was here and how it all revolved around this Christmas' Other must-see film, ELF.
Signing off...
From now on, you can call me:
TheRealCandide
