Elf [Blu-ray]

Product Information

Buddy the Elf is without question Ferrell's most endearing portrayal. Though better known for raunchy humor in the Ron Burgundy vein, he fully embraces Buddy's wide-eyed innocence, genial nature, and limitless capacity for love. He and Deschanel mesh well together, but it's Ferrell's chemistry with the crusty Caan that really fuels the film. Of course, Caan's recent death made this year's viewing of Elf bittersweet, but it also added more resonance to the actor's low-key, finely nuanced performance. Though his turns in The Godfather, Brian's Song, Thief, and Miserywill alwaysoutshine his work in Elf, Caan brings his patented tough-tender persona to the role and tempers Ferrell's lunacy. James Caan), a glossy matching slipcover, and a Digital Copy redemption code. Since the included Blu-ray exactly matches its 2008 counterpart disc that, like others in WB's New Line catalog, was plagued by digital noise reduction, filtering, and other issues (they're all repeatedly mentioned in Deleted/Alternate Scenes (SD, 12 minutes) -- Eight cuts and extensions don’t amount to much material, but it’s an amusing collection that will give fans a few additional laughs. Buddy (Will Ferrell) is different from all of Santa's other elves. For one thing, he's a "cotton-headed ninny muggins" when it comes to making toys. For another, he's 6'3". And the real clincher: He's human! So one special December, Buddy sets off on a holiday adventure to New York CIty in search of his real dad. How buddy finds his father (James Caan) and the meaning of Christmas is a joyous, jaunty, sweet-as-a-candy-cane gift for everyone.

The 4K disc includes its primary English audio in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio format. The soundstage is surprisingly big and wide up front, particularly for a comedy film—notably bigger and fuller sounding than the previous Blu-ray’s Dolby TrueHD mix—with crystal clear dialogue and a pleasing musicality. Tonally, the mix is robust and natural, with smooth panning, pleasing low end, and immersive use of the rear channels for score and ambience. This isn’t a blustery mix to be sure, but it definitely places you squarely in the middle of its various sonic environments. English Descriptive Audio is also available, as are additional mixes in French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital. Optional subtitles are included in English for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, French, and Spanish. The new HDR10 grade, by and large, offers its own usual brand of improvement but also leads to this transfer's only slight speed bump. First, the This two-disc release ships in a dual-hubbed keepcase with attractive new cover artwork (and a really tiny cast credit for the late, greatBuoyed by its unique and inspired premise, Elf sails along for its first hour or so, brilliantly mixing hilarity and sweetness. Watching Buddy awkwardly adapt to the real world, spread Christmas cheer, and forge bonds with his newfound family and the jaded, downtrodden Jovie (Zooey Deschanel), a department store employee with whom he becomes instantly smitten, is great fun, but clichés crop up toward the end. The obligatory save Christmas climax and sudden renewal of seasonal spirit are tried-and-true staples of holiday movies, and while Elf handles them with flair, it's hard not to wish for a more original and clever finish. Unlike Vince Vaughn, Will Farrell has this silly comedy thing pretty down. He has not been one hundred percent successful in pulling it off, in the case of Bewitched and Semi-Pro, he had nothing to work with in terms of script, nor narrative. In Elf, he innocently captures every nuance of a naïve, genuinely honest, certainly not bashful, underexposed, immature man, clearly out of his element no matter where it is. His performance was so good, I really believed him. Unlike Vaughn, he doesn't appear stupid, silly, or plain trifling just for the effect. While there are plenty of silly moments, they are means to an end in enhancing the characters obvious nature, and the awkwardness of his interaction with his environment. The entire cast, which centers on James Caan, Mary Steenburgen, and Daniel Tay along with Farrell, contrastingly shows a level of dysfunction, alienation, and neglect that is juxtaposed to Farrell's jovial, enthusiastic, innocence, and strong desire to connect with his father. In essence, he just wants to be accepted and loved. All of this is clearly fleshed out with Farrell playing Buddy in Elf. He shows a dynamic complexity which really looks like simple silliness, and he does it without really trying.

As Buddy grows, his height and poor toy making skills begin to raise questions of who he really is. Seeing how frustrated Buddy was getting, Papa Elf takes Buddy on as his apprentice, and their first project together will be to make Santa's sled fly. Papa Elf added a jet engine to the sled which used to fly on Christmas spirit. However Christmas spirit has waned over the years, so its inclusion became necessary. After Buddy becomes so frustrated with events surrounding him, Papa Elf finally tells him he is adopted. Papa Elf tells Buddy who his real mother and father are, explains his mother death, and his father's current location. Determined to find his father, Buddy sets off for New York City. Warner Bros.' new 2160p, HDR10-enhanced transfer quite simply runs circles around their 2008 Blu-ray which, to be fair to our review of that disc, probably looked fine enough on The only time ‘Elf’ doesn’t feel like a breezy Christmas classic is when it has to wrap up every loose end in the third act and allow Buddy to emerge as a holiday hero to a variety of people. There are so many things for Buddy to accomplish -- reconnecting with his real father, winning the girl, saving Christmas, inspiring belief in children, and more -- that Favreau is forced to resort to familiar genre resolutions on more than one occasion. Don’t get me wrong, it fits the tone of the film, but the first two acts are so resourceful and clever that its conclusion feels a bit forced and unoriginal. Warner’s new Ultra HD release is a two-disc set that includes the film remastered in 4K on UHD as well as the previous 1080p HD on Blu-ray (the exact same disc released in 2008). Both discs including the following special features, carried over from previous releases:the charms of Elf: despite my review subtitle up there, I was once not a fan of Will Ferrell and the film never connected with me during the

almost expected for this kind of film -- but unfortunately keeps Elf from flirting more closely with perfection. Had WB included aof noise reduction allowing costume textures, close-up details, and wide shots to earn much higher visibility, with most colors also getting an