Did not like it, and I really wanted to, too. I went into the movie in a wretched mood, which didn’t help, but it really seemed like two entirely different movies to me — the first half, which is brilliant and hilarious and sweet, and the second half, which is cliched and mawkish and dull. It’s like Favreau either lost his nerve halfway through or was told by the studio to make it more “typically Christmas” or something, unless the fruition of that subplot is supposed to function as a parody of itself, which…I doubt it, because Favs is able to pull that off with clarity and that’s not what I saw here. In any case…ick. Did not like the second half. But Ferrell is wonderful throughout; even when the material falls out from under him, he stays up. (12/9/03)

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