In Elf, Will Ferrell plays Buddy, who was orphaned as a baby and grew up in the North Pole after crawling into Santa’s toy bag one Christmas night. Instead of being returned to the orphanage, Papa Elf, played by Bob Newhart, adopts the human baby and raises him in Santa’s workshop, which leads to all sorts of complicated identity issues for the young non-elf.

Buddy grows to normal human size and towers over all the other elves when he reaches adulthood. Yet he continues to believe that he is still an elf despite his obvious physical differences, until one day the secret is exposed and he is told that his father lives and works in New York City. The horrible truth, however, is that although Buddy is the epitome of goodness and happiness, his father, played by James Caan, is an unapologetic member of the “naughty list.”

Motivated by Santa, Buddy decides it is time to meet his father, and in the spirit of every Christmas story, he is off on a mission to make miracles come true. He spreads Christmas cheer in the Big Apple, teaches his father a lesson or two about what matters most in life and even happens to find the love of his own life along the way.

Surprisingly, the film does a great job appealing to both adult and child audiences. For the kids, Elf has all the features of your average, high-spirited Christmas movie, full of colored lights and a reaffirmation of Santa’s existence. This time, however, Ferrell’s the one bringing the Christmas spirit. On its own, his bright green bodysuit, which he seems to wear quite proudly for almost the entire length of the film, would probably be enough to keep the adults laughing, but it’s only one element of Ferrell’s signature willingness to do almost anything for a laugh.

The film relies on Ferrell’s hilarious portrayal of Buddy, an incredibly naïve yet constantly cheery six-foot-man shocked to learn he’s not an elf. Ferrell’s physical comedy talents and amazing execution of lines greatly enhance the film, and though some viewers will be frequently embarrassed as Ferrell makes a fool of himself, it is his ridiculous character that makes watching another predictable Christmas story worthwhile.

Although Ferrell is the star of the project, Bob Newhart’s Papa Elf provides a nice contrast to Buddy and is a generous source of humor in his own right. Newhart’s monotone voice, cynicism and perpetually droopy face only accentuate Ferrell’s outrageous character. This is a memorable film duo.

Elf is obviously the type of movie where you know what will happen before you even step foot into theaters. For some reason, it doesn’t matter. Elf has all the pine trees and tinsel you could want from a Christmas movie, yet unlike It’s a Wonderful Life, it also shows its audience such comic conceits as an oversized man eating spaghetti with pancake syrup, and that makes all the difference.