Review: Ferrell a treat in 'Elf'

Ferrell is perfect as Buddy, the oversized innocent who grows up believing that he's an elf. It's an understandable mistake. He's been reared by Papa Elf (Bob Newhart), Santa's chief mechanic (reindeer power will get you only so far), and he's spent his entire life at the North Pole in classes, at play and at work with elves.

Everybody around him realizes that Buddy is a human, not an elf, but that fact eludes him. Obviously, he's taller than the other elves and slower on the toy line, but no one loves Christmas more than Buddy.

Once Buddy discovers that he ended up at the North Pole by accident, he decides to embrace his roots. His mother is dead, but his birth father is alive and well in New York City. Santa Claus (Ed Asner) sends Buddy on his way with lots of good advice.

Buddy tracks down his dad, Walter Hobbs (James Caan), who unfortunately is a fixture on Santa's naughty list. Walter is too busy being a greedy businessman to pay attention to his wife, Emily (Mary Steenburgen), and son, Michael (Daniel Tay). And he doesn't welcome the arrival of Buddy, who's obviously a nut.

Unfazed -- actually, more like clueless -- Buddy works his way into the family unit, develops a crush on a department-store elf named Jovie (Zooey Deschanel) and positions himself as Santa's big helper in this offbeat comedy.

"Elf" doesn't have any major plot surprises, but it does have a surprisingly dark and quirky side. It takes its inspiration as much from "The Nightmare Before Christmas" as "It's a Wonderful Life." Director Jon Favreau and screenwriter David Berenbaum also sprinkle some of the feeling of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" into their Christmas confection.

Ferrell hits all the right notes, and he has good support from Newhart, Asner, Deschanel, Tay, Steenburgen, Amy Sedaris as an inept secretary and Peter Dinklage as an egotistical writer. Caan ensures that there's no syrupy turn.

"Elf" has silly bits to win over kids, but it's subversive enough to be convincing as a film on which Ferrell and Favreau ("Swingers") would collaborate. Watching it will put any viewer in the mood to aim for Santa's nice list.

Rated PG for some mild rude humor and language.