Dan M
Reviewer

1) Treat every day as if it were Christmas.

2) There is room for everybody on the nice list

3) The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.

      That is the Code of the Elves. The Code of the Elves introduces the new Will Farrell “comedy” “Elf”, and the cuteness director Jon Favreau introduces here continues throughout the film, and, much to my surprise, never once makes the audience feel as if they are about to vomit.       The film makes no attempt to hide its basic premise of a Christmas movie. You have Santa, perfectly played by Ed Asner. You have your head elf, portrayed by Bob Newhart. You have the grumpy, anti-Christmas guy, James Caan. It is like every television special and Christmas movie rolled into one. And therein lay its genius.
 
      I walked into the theater expecting this awful, watered down attempt to revitalize the Christmas season that seemed so big and exciting when we were four. After seeing Will Farrell walk around in tights and get into a fight with a raccoon, I realized I could not have been more off base. The premise is that an infant accidentally crawled into Santa’s bag and was adopted by the bumbling Bob Newhart we all know and love. Buddy, played by Farrell, decides he is going to find his father, Caan, who is the antithesis to all that Buddy knows and loves. The confrontation follows the typical Hollywood scenario: introduction, humor by awkwardness, humor by acceptance, confrontation, heart warming resolve. However, the point of this typical formula is to allow the audience to be able to relate and recall the old Christmas specials: Frosty The Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Jack Frost, etc. There is even a bridge scene almost identical to “It’s A Wonderful Life.”
 
      The film still has its flaws. Many cinema attendees and Farrell fans will expect the slapstick situational comedy of “Old School” and “Saturday Night Live.” If that is what you are looking for, you are at the wrong movie. Do not underestimate the entertainment value of Elf. Take this scene that made most people in the theater laugh: Buddy finds out Santa, a perfectly placed Artie Lange (remember "Dirty Work”), is coming to Gimbels, a New York City department store. He goes to see him and discovers that Santa is not Santa. A fight scene commences and we see Farrell in a state of innocence that is completely original compared to what he has been in lately, yet it feels completely out of character. Another fish-out-of-water scene has Peter Dinklage, the dwarf who attained recent stardom in “The Station Agent,” fighting Farrell over Buddy’s assumptions of Peter being an elf. These awkward scenes, although they do not really fit into the flow of the film, do not take away from the overall feelings of innocence and happiness we all used to experience sitting around the television during the week before Christmas.
 
      To truly appreciate this film, one must have to step outside the conventions of Will Farrell, Jon Favreau, and what we would consider the two to produce. If you are able to do that, run to the theater, bring a date and sit back and enjoy. If you cannot, do not consider yourself to be Ebenezer Scrooge. Go anyway and enjoy something brand new.