Cru Jones Society

Summer officially started a month ago, according to most calendars. While the temperatures in my fair city climbed ever so high and let me know that it was in fact summer time, I’m not sure the cable channel USA has kept up with such current events. For you see the network decided to air a Christmas themed movie. Normally I’d be opposed to this for many reasons, but I ignored those reasons and indulged in the viewing of this movie. The Christmas film of which I speak, and the one the programming department at USA decided to play on this rather warm July evening, was “Elf” starring Will Farrell.

Now if you’re anything like me you were hesitant on seeing this flick. I thought, “Great, another Christmas movie geared towards children. No thanks!” I didn’t care if it was Will Farrell. I will not see this movie.

When the movie arrived on basic cable I watched it. Much to my surprise I enjoyed it. Now every year around Christmas some channel plays the hell out of it, and I watch almost every one of them.

As it turns out it Elf is a very charming movie. Will Farrell is an elf named Buddy, or so he thinks. As an orphan child Buddy crawls into Santa’s bag and ends up in the North Pole where Papa Elf raises him. The movie jumps ahead approximately thirty years and Buddy still believes he is an elf, even though he’s significantly taller than any elf, and is a less productive toy maker. Elves have nimble little hands that allow them to be excellent toy makers, just FYI.

Buddy overhears a couple elves talking about how he still hasn’t figured out that he’s not an elf. Buddy then seeks Papa Elf for the truth and finds out that his real father lives in New York City. So Buddy leaves on an adventure that takes him through the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gumdrops, and then walks through the Lincoln Tunnel until he arrives in NYC.

NYC is where the real fun begins.

A grown man who has never left the arctic, dressed as an elf, trying to endure one of the largest cities in the world. It’s nothing more than a basic fish-out-of-water story. What makes it a fun romp is the enthusiasm Will Farrell brings to the character. Buddy the Elf experiences the entire real world for the first time, like a child. He is full of naivete and excitement; it makes me wish that I felt that way about anything. I think the idea that it is possible to feel that way is part of the appeal of the movie.

A subplot of the movie is how this modern world is more apathetic toward Christmas than it has ever been. I myself have grown to loathe Christmas – mainly due to the years I spent in retail helping in the materialization of the holiday. Recently I have found myself thinking of Christmases from my youth, and I remember them feeling almost magical.

Buddy wants to do everything in his power to stir up the Christmas spirit in everyone, to make each person feel the magic of the Christmas season . Somehow by the end of the movie I start to regain a more festive outlook on the season. That mood usually disappears as soon as I see Dealin’ Doug dressed in a Santa suit trying to sell cars, however.

But during the two hours that “Elf” fills my television screen I am filled with a joy that I can’t explain. For that reason, and for the gentle comedy of the flick, “Elf” is one of three Christmas movies I will watch year after year, and one of two that I would watch in the summer. The others are “A Muppet Family Christmas” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”

That’s enough Christmas talk for now, besides, I have a season of “Entourage” to catch up on. Until next time, on behalf of myself and Harold and the whole gang up here at Possum Lodge . . . keep your stick on the ice.

I’m sorry I ruined your lives and crammed eleven cookies into the VCR.

lee.s.hart@crujonessociety.com