I love Elf!

I’m an adult and I learned the truth about Santa Claus a long time ago but I still put up the tree the day after Thanksgiving, still hang stockings with the names of my sisters on them, and I still get excited when I see the Christmas lights going up across the neighborhood.  I am unapologetically, deliriously in love with Christmas. And every single year, without fail, I curl up with the same worn-out blanket, the same bowl of freshly-popped popcorn, and I watch Elf.  I don’t watch it because it’s cool or ironic.  I watch it because it’s as unabashedly in love with Christmas as I am.

The older you get, the more cynical the world wants you to be about everything.  Elf doesn’t have time for cynicism.  Will Ferrell plays Buddy, a human who was raised by Santa’s elves and who goes to New York City to find his real father (James Caan) and who never loses his innocence and Christmas spirit, no matter what the world throws at him.  Buddy isn’t dumb, not really.  He’s someone who still believes in giving and celebration and love.  When he tells the fake Santa that he sits on a throne of lies, he’s not trying to make trouble.  Buddy knows the real Santa and he’s not going to let some fake in a beard steal the credit for his work.  (Especially when he’s played by Artie Lange!) Buddy is ridiculous. He’s too tall, too loud, too earnest, too everything. He puts maple syrup on spaghetti and calls it gourmet. He spins in revolving doors until he’s dizzy with joy.  Everyone should be as lucky as Buddy.  Everyone should be as filled with joy and wonder as Buddy.  Buddy doesn’t let the world get him down but, even more importantly, he never loses his belief.  Just as Linus will always wait for the Great Pumpkin, Buddy will always believe that Santa is coming.

This is my favorite Will Ferrell performance.  The way he throws himself into every moment makes me smile every time.  But I like everyone in this film, from Bob Newhart as Buddy’s adopted father to James Caan as his real father to Ed Asner as Santa.  When Zooey Deschanel starts singing Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, I feel it in my heart because I believe it.  Elf believes it too, without apology.  That’s what makes Elf a great movie.

I’m an adult.  I’ve been an adult for a while.  I still love Elf and I always will!