Sweetness and slapstick put 'Elf' on Christmas list

Will Ferrell's comical antics make this movie worthwhile.
By JUSTIN RUDE
WASHINGTON POST
The turkeys aren't even in the oven and already some of the big Christmas videos are jingling into town. One early bird -- Jon Favreau's "Elf" -- might be the holiday DVD to beat, if for no better reason than watching Will Ferrell blunder around the Big Apple in bright yellow tights.
"Elf" is the story of orphan Buddy (Ferrell), an infant Santa mistakenly whisks away to the North Pole. Christmas elves raise Buddy to adulthood, when he decides to head for New York in search of his natural father.
Fans come together
The movie is sticky-sweet with Christmas sentiment, but watching the antics of Ferrell in his full man-child incarnation is worth every saccharine moment. Hilarious situational jokes involving a full-grown Buddy and tiny elf-furniture or a department store fistfight with a fake-Santa make "Elf" a movie that will bring together fans of cornball Christmas flicks and slapstick physical comedy. (And isn't that what the season is all about?)
"Elf" is an Infinifilm DVD, which means it goes beyond the standard "movie in one menu, features in another" format. Activating the Infinifilm feature lets the viewer experience behind-the-scenes extras at relevant points in the movie. For example, during a scene in which the 6-foot-3 Buddy stumbles around the minuscule elf-town, an option appears that allows viewers to watch a mini-feature demonstrating how filmmakers used forced-perspective camerawork to make Buddy appear so large.
When the mini-feature ends, "Elf" resumes where it was interrupted. Infinifilm provides access to interesting information and adds value to watching repeat screenings of the movie.
Bonuses
The "Elf" bonus disc boasts deleted scenes, access to the film's music and behind-the-scenes material. The "Fun 'N Games" menu features a read-along story with Buddy, a remote-control activated adventure game and some sing-along elf karaoke -- because adults singing with high voices is a gag that never gets old.