#50 - Elf

Finally, a movie that people have actually heard of, and have probably seen. I was looking forward to this movie for a number of reasons. One, I needed something mainstream to break up my lackluster viewing lineup. Two, I really like John Favreau's movies and was interested in seeing how he does directing with larger budgets. (Can we get some new episodes of Dinner for Five PLEASE?!?!) Three, I was completely floored by how absolutely hysterically funny Will Ferrell was in Anchorman and wanted to see if he was able to keep it going in another leading role. And yes, I do realize that this one came first and that technically makes the previous sentence incorrect, but I saw Anchorman first, so bite me.

With all of that build up in mind, I was definately left with a resounding feeling of "not bad". It's amazing to me that it can happen, but this is one of those odd cases of a movie that has so many things in it that I liked, but when the pieces were assembled, the end result was just okay. I have a theory on why that happened here, but we'll get to that later. Bob Newhart!! Good to see Bob Newhart and his usual frantic self. Ed Asner!! How the hell has this guy never been pegged for a Santa until now? Zooey Deschanel!! Actually, the jury is still out on her. I wanna say she's a cutie, cause she kind of is, but I get the feeling she might be a bit of a freak. Not a Selma Blair kind of freak, but freak nonetheless. I didn't even remember she was in Big Trouble and I liked that movie. Of course, Sophia Vergara was in that, and holy crap. Faizon Love!! This guy is freakin hysterical. I wish I could see his stand up sometime cause everything I have seen him do is really funny.

I loved the visuals when Buddy was in the North Pole. I loved the stop motion snowman that lived up there. I think the fantasy is reality world that was created was well done and fun to watch. So why didn't I enjoy this movie more than I did? I think the answer lies at the feet of the man I was interested in watching the most, well at least his writers. I think Will Ferrell's performance as Buddy is great. He is absolutely commited to the role and plays every inch of it to its most extreme intensities. Problem is, as written, the character is dumb. Not ignorant of life in the city of New York, just dumb. For exhibit, I give you Crocodile Dundee. He was ignorant of life in NYC, but over time adapted. Buddy did not, well not completely. I just didn't buy that the 30 year old guy would still act completely like a child and not really pick up on much of anything going on around him, and since Ferrell plays the role so completely as written, it kind of showed flaws in the character development. Or maybe I'm just an idiot for over analyzing a fun little family Christmas movie that I actually did enjoy. I hate critics.