Photo courtesy New Line Cinema Will Ferrell's gift for physical humor and his dumb but lovable character make 'Elf' hilarious and heartwarming

"Elf"
(New Line Cinema)
Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0

Wouldn't Christmas be sweeter if Santa Claus was real?

All of you readers are either saying, "Yes," or skipping to the next story because you have hearts of stone. But, folks, the question was rhetorical! Gotcha.

Of course Christmas would be sweeter if Santa Claus was real! That's why people, even adults, love holiday films. These movies take us back to our childhood, a time when we cherished these winter holidays and had dreams of sugarplums and fairies.

"Elf" is one of these movies.

As a baby, Buddy (Will Ferrell) crawls into Santa's sack while he is eating cookies at the orphanage. Santa takes him in at the North Pole and Papa Elf (Bob Newhart) raises him as an elf.

It becomes rather apparent to every other elf that Buddy doesn't belong, but he ignores his obvious differences with a happy spirit. When Papa Elf finally tells him that he's a human, Buddy decides to go looking for his real father in New York.

But his father (James Caan) has a new family and a ton of deadlines at his publishing house. And, obviously, he's on the naughty list for being a scrooge.

So when Buddy arrives, there's no warm greeting from his father. However, there are plenty of laughs as Buddy learns about the big city.

While this is a one-trick pony, Ferrell's gift for goofy physical comedy makes it last throughout the film. And he even gets drunk a la "Old School."

After his arrival in New York, Buddy meets a woman named Jovie (Zooey Deschanel) while he works as one of Santa's elves at a department store. For most of the movie, he tries to win her over, along with his new family.

We may already know what happens in the end, but director Jon Favreau ("Swingers") does a beautiful job blending music, holiday spirit and Ferrell's brilliance to tug at the heartstrings of the audience while piling on the laughs.

Sure, none of this is believable, but neither was that Garfield Christmas special that kicked so much ass. Remember? Garfield gets the machine that lets him think of any present and instantly get it. I was obsessed with that cartoon. I would rent it three times a year.

Anyway, Christmas movies aren't supposed to be believable. They're supposed to give you false hopes, and I don't have a problem with that.

Unless you have a heart of stone, you'll be smiling throughout this movie and for a couple hours afterward. Or you might not smile if you're Jewish, I'm not sure ...

So, go see this ... or wait for the Garfield special on TV. Both are really good.