Watching holiday movies throughout the yuletide season has become a tradition in many households throughout the world—some beloved because of their holiday themes, and others simply taking place during December. One that takes advantage of a full-on Christmas focus, however, is Elf (2003). An instant classic now beloved for 17 years, “Elf,” was released on November 7th, 2003, and grossed more than $220 million dollars worldwide. It played to critical and public acclaim, with hilarity, romance, and of course a story that speaks of family to all ages.
First, a quick synopsis: “Elf,” is the tale of a baby who stowed away in Santa’s bag one Christmas Eve from the children’s home where he was given up by his mother. Adopted by Santa’s elves, and now groun up, Buddy the man has trouble fitting in (all 6 ft. 3 in. of him), and sets off to find his biological father Walter. Walter is a stressed out workaholic with no interest in a potential son he never even knew about. Among hi jinx at his father’s publishing company and a department store where he gets a job, and a new girlfriend.
As I mentioned, this is a hilarious movie. Buddy the Elf, played by Will Ferrell has lots interactions with the New York City culture…including chaos at the department store where he gets a job as an elf, he unmasks who they hired as a Santa which leads to a chaotic mess, he rounds around a turnaround door tell he throws up, and he even accidentally walks in on Jovie in the shower singing “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” to which it becomes a duet between the two of them. Buddy also causes a dancing riot between the other coworkers when he briefly becomes drunk in the mailroom of Greenway Press, his father’s publishing business. And he unintentionally offends his father’s collaborator, Miles Finch by calling him a “south pole elf.”
The movie is also a true family movie, demonstrating how beautiful forgiveness is. Buddy’s Christmas spirit gives him the strength to forgive his father because he knows that his father does care about him. Buddy also enjoys being in his life and having a relationship with him, along with his wife, Emily and son Michael. Buddy’s forgiveness in turn inspires Walter to be confident in himself that he is a good, hard worker and he doesn’t need to keep a job that his distracting him from his family. And at the end of the movie, he starts his own book publishing business “Walter Hobbs & Son,” a business that becomes all about family, with he and Buddy running the business together.
“Elf,” is also an endearing romantic comedy. When Buddy first meets Jovie, he is completely blown away by her beautiful singing voice. Jovie isn’t too sure what she thinks of Buddy and thinks his holiday spirit is quite awkward. And it originally looks like they’ll be enemies because Jovie doesn’t like it when Buddy inadvertently happens into the women’s locker room. However, she learns to forgive and later accepts an invitation to go out with him. Though the date gets off to an awkward start, they really begin to connect and share their first kiss and realize that they are meant to be. (Spoiler alert: a baby elf is in their future!)
All in all, “Elf,” is a movie that shows that we can all become preoccupied with worthless things during the holidays and that we need to find valuable things that truthfully bring the true Christmas spirit. To quote the movie “The bet way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear”—we can get in the spirit from Christmas songs, but what’s an even better gift during the holidays is family and spending time with them. While it is true that families wrong one another in complicated ways, we can and should learn to forgive them, and always value time with them no matter what.
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