Christmas is right around the corner. 

That means the Christmas binge watching begins. “The Holiday,” “Home Alone,” “Miracle on 34th Street,” and the movie about an elf who “passed through the seven levels of the candy cane forest, through the sea of swirly-twirly gumdrops, and then through the Lincoln Tunnel.” 

Clearly, I am referring to the iconic Christmas movie, “Elf.” If you haven’t seen the movie, it is about a human raised by Santa’s elves. 

The movie is iconic, filled with laughs, and is one of my favorite holiday classics.  

“Elf” begins with the main character, Buddy, in an orphanage, he spots a teddy bear in Santa’s bag and crawls into it. Santa doesn’t notice and Buddy makes it to the North Pole; the head elf decides to take Buddy in as his own.  

Despite being noticeably different from the other elves, Buddy doesn’t question if he is truly elf-blooded (which I find rather strange). He is much taller, larger, and looks completely different than every other elf. 

The fact that everyone but Buddy knows he is human makes the movie funny and interesting. Watching Buddy drastically outgrow the desks, shower, and doorways bring a certain level of comedy to the movie. 

However, when Buddy does find out he is a human, he takes it into his own hands to travel to NYC.

We get to explore a variety of characters from the bubbly elf Buddy, to his grumpy dad, Walter Hobbs as Buddy adjusts to the human world. 

The main characters are Jovie (Buddy’s love interest), Michael (Buddy’s brother) Walter (Buddy’s dad), and Emily (Buddy’s step-mother) 

In NYC Buddy finds himself a love interest. In my opinion, their relationship is close to perfect: a quirky man falls in love with a grumpy girl. 

Buddy’s dad: Walter is rude, negative, and prioritizes his job and money over his family. At first, I had strong feelings of hatred towards the father but, near the end of the film, he has huge character development. Buddy runs away, and Hobbs and Michael explore the streets of NYC trying to find him. Hobbs leaves in the middle of an important conference to go find Buddy. I believe this shows his true love and devotion towards his family which he lacked at the beginning of the movie. 

Buddy’s brother: Michael is the most underrated character. He is the first person to believe that Buddy is an elf because, to be frank, everybody thought that Buddy was insane. I would say Michael is sweet, wholesome, and cares about Buddy more than anybody else. He even encourages Buddy to ask Jovie out. 

Buddy’s stepmom: Emily Hobbs was rarely seen, except for in a couple of short scenes. From what I saw, she’s nice and accepting. Her character was a waste and the writers could have done a better job incorporating her into the movie. 

Without giving away the ending, it always hits the spot. It is a happy ending that concludes with the Christmas spirit spreading throughout the streets of NYC. 

As I watched the end of the movie, feelings of happiness rushed through my body. 

Despite this, for a 21st Century movie, it looks as if it was made in the 1900s. The special effects were seriously lacking and were poorly edited. Don’t get me wrong, the movie is still great but amazing special effects would have made the movie ten times better. 

This movie is a definite must-watch as it is warm-hearted and has lovable characters. If you have yet to see it or have seen it a million times, go grab a bowl of popcorn with maple syrup drizzled on top (Buddy’s favorite) and a friend to enjoy this fun-spirited movie.