Elf

Will Ferrell plays Buddy, a giant screaming love bunny of an oversized elf-man in this cloying and yet entertaining look at interspecies love. Adopted by Santa as an infant, Buddy is raised by an elf (Bob Newhart) who lavishes him with candy and tight green panties. When he reaches maturity (apparently that would be the late 30s in elf-years), he decides to go to New York City to find his real father, eat gum off the sidewalk and recycle every other Christmas film ever made. Combining Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer with Scrooge, It’s a Wonderful Life and Triumph of the Will, the plot has Buddy rescuing his dad (James Caan) from unChristmasy feelings, rescuing his little brother from mean bullies and rescuing Santa Claus from the Bush administration’s task force on eliminating jollyness and non-commercial gift giving. In the end, everyone is happy and peace reigns upon the land and director Jon Favreau makes a lot of money and never again has to hang around with the cynical hipster pals who initially launched his career.