Every year when the holiday season rolls around, Sombrero Grande relishes the sight of colorful Christmas lights, the sound of familiar carols, the twinkling of tinsel and the general feel of holiday cheer in the crisp, winter air. Apparently, so does Favreau, because Elf is stuffed with more Christmas spirit than a Twinkie is with fat. And I'm happy to report that, like the aforementioned moment in Made and the self pity/frustration in Swingers, the feeling is real.

I have to give a lot of credit as well to Will Ferrell, who is so charming and convincing as Buddy the Elf that I found myself forgetting--even despite his tall stature on the screen--that this was a grown man. So often when a grown actor portrays a child (in, for example, Martin Short's Clifford or Roberto Benigni's Pinocchio), the effect really doesn't work and the audience needs to continually remind themselves, "that's supposed to be a kid." But here, Ferrell's performance is so full of real child-like wonder and joy that I found myself startled to remember that he's an adult playing an adult! I wasn't necessarily a fan of Ferrell's going into the film, but I definitely am now.

The casting in this film is perfect. James Caan...Zooey Deschannel...Amy Sedaris...Mary Steenburgen...Faizon Love...all were great, even if I hadn't always been delighted with previous performances of theirs. Ed Asner really surprised me as the most believable Santa I've seen in a recent film, and I have to admit I really got a kick out of seeing Bob Newhart, Andy Richter (Conan O'Brien's old sidekick) and Kyle Gass (half of Tenacious D) show up.

If there's a blemish on this shiny ornament, it's the fact that Buddy's father's change of heart (you knew it was coming) comes OBSCENELY fast and, to my mind, not nearly motivated enough for such a screeching U-turn. One minute he's yelling at Buddy to get out of his life forever, and the next...well, it just seemed like the Hollywood cookie-cutter clipped a corner out of sheer convenience.

One more note: the "chase" in the park is a wonderful achievement for Favreau: it's exciting while at the same time nicely understated, not played up like some Michael Bay forced orgasm.

I'm eager to see what Jon Favreau does next. In my book, he's 3 for 3 now.

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