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Unwrapping Elf: Cheering Our Inner Grinch
Find out how Elf uses Christmas nostalgia to warm our Grinch-like hearts.
Film & TV explained
Find out how Elf uses Christmas nostalgia to warm our Grinch-like hearts.
In both "The Stanley Parable" and "Stranger than Fiction," the protagonists begin to hear a disembodied voice narrating their every move. As a result, each work is a clever reflection on control, fate and autonomy.
"Elf" is the type of Christmas comedy that seems aware of the kind of film it doesn’t want to be, and avoids the traps that turn so many holiday films into boring, overly sappy stories.
In "Elf," the character of Buddy evolves by not changing at all. Instead, he's forced to learn how to accept himself as being different, and brightens the lives of those around him along the way.