Elf (2003)
Jon Favreau
Impression published on Wednesday, 2009-12-30 | Film | 1 stars
It's tough to hate Jon Favreau. He also doesn't make it very easy to like him, however, so watching his movies is always a bit of a challenge.
With the exception of Ironman and his break-through screenplay (i.e. Swingers), nothing he's done is really an unqualified success. Actually, come to think of it, even those successes are pretty qualified, too: Ironman would have been unbearable crap if Bob Downey wasn't firing on all 12 cylinders and Swingers would be indistinguishable from any other chuckle-fest indie bromance if young Vince Vaughn hasn't been swinging for the fences.
So, considering his hit-or-miss/skin-of-his teeth track record, it should come as no surprise that Elf is...not good. For want of a heroic performance to save the production a la RDJr's saving performance in Ironman, Elf ends up being just another soporific Hollywood "paint by numbers" with a Christmas theme. It's cute/silly and occasionally chuckle-worthy for about the first 20 minutes, and then you remember why Will Ferrell was born to star in short sketches and supporting roles: having to endure him for more than 15 minutes is an extremely unpleasant undertaking.
Stop running around.
Please.
The brightest spot in this generally dismal family film, however, is the kinda-foxy Zooey Deschanel, who plays Ferrell's love interest and who sings the female part of the eminently enjoyable update of "Baby, it's Cold Outside" that plays over the credits. She doesn't get as much screen time as you might want--most of that is wasted on footage of Will Ferrell with his back bent slightly while he runs and yells--but she's a nice distraction from James Caan's bland, tedious straight man and Will Ferrell's inane unfunniness.
