Written by Melissa Allen, who you can follow on Twitter at @melissajournal
We all know there are thousands of Christmas films out there; more come out every year and they all fight for the top spot. Despite the myriad of festive flicks out there, Elf has to be one of, if not THE best Christmas film of all time...
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Many movies grab the mantle of ‘Christmas film’ simply because the events of the film take place during the holiday season – yes this is Christmassy, but they are not the same as films like Elf which literally scream Christmas at you for an hour and a half – nothing is more Christmassy than that!
Buddy the elf (Will Ferrell) is a human who snuck into Santa’s sack filled with Christmas presents and ended up at the North Pole. Years later, he’s still there working on toys like all the other (real) elves. Buddy loves Christmas more that anyone could ever love anything, which makes him one of the most adorable, relatable characters of all time. However, upon realising that he isn’t actually an elf, Buddy goes on a trip to New York to find his real father (James Caan) and spend Christmas with him.
Buddy’s father isn’t convinced that his son is an ‘elf’ from the North Pole, so Buddy sets out to make his father’s life as Christmassy as he can. Buddy decorates the house by filling it literally to the ceiling with Christmas cheer and makes an effort to move his father off the naughty list!
The film is stuffed like a Christmas cracker with, well, Christmas! The songs Buddy sings, the way he throws Christmas in everyone’s face – even Jovie (Zooey Deschanel), who just wants to “get through the holidays” can’t resist Buddy’s overwhelmingly wonderful Christmas spirit.
This is a Christmas film you have to watch every year; the wonderful charm Christmas has is embodied magically in this film and Buddy’s care-free silly attitude makes this film that little bit more special – and the fact that he saves Christmas just adds to the festive wonderment that is Elf!
MORE: Seven best anti-Christmas movies, for those who hate the festive season
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