There's also a frustrating obviousness at play here, in which it basically takes everyone 90 minutes to figure out the absolute easiest solution to their problem. And that solution is supposed to feel revolutionary. In fact, in the end, an Elder Elf (played by Family Ties' Michael Gross) fully realizes that they've all been incredibly obtuse just because...they've always been that way.
Kendrick's Noelle Kringle lives and breathes Christmas. And not just because her Kringle lineage dictates such. She's the most "into it" of her entire ilk. Way more than her older brother Nick (Bill Hader), who's next up to become Santa. The twenty-third Santa in fact, after thousands of years of inherited responsibility.
The trouble is, Nick's not about that Santa life. Not only does this Kringle crumble under pressure, but the overall gig just doesn't gel with who he is. No one can see this. No one wants to see this. Meanwhile, there's a more-than-capable Kringle right there. Maybe there's something undeniable to be said here about a team backing a less qualified man in place of an overqualified woman (or even toxic online outrage over fictional characters being changed). After all, the next "in line" for Santa, after Nick, is Nick's cold-hearted cousin Gabe (Billy Eichner), who longs to depersonalize the entire event.When Santa Nick goes missing (he literally just abandons everyone, ostensibly ruining all of Christmas), Noelle is blamed. Again, because no one dare make Nick feel less-than. So to redeem herself, when she shouldn't have to, she heads from the North Pole to climate-opposite Phoenix to find him. There she not only discovers Nick's gotten into hot yoga, but she meets the rest of the film's supporting players, from lovelorn Helen (Diana-Maria Riva) to divorced P.I. Jake (Kingsley Ben-Adir). Accompanying Noelle is her Elf nanny, Polly (played by Shirley MacLaine, wearing a lot of hats so she didn't have to constantly be in elf ears).
The movie's messaging is decent and plain enough. It's a feel-good fable in which not only does Noelle, yes, brighten the lives of the grumpy lost souls she encounters but she also, in turn, realizes that Christmas isn't always a happy time for a lot of people. Not because those folks are inherently Grinch-y, but because the holiday can be a harsh reminder of crucial things that are lacking in a person's life. It's actually not a bad takeaway for a film that doesn't quite measure up as an instant holiday classic.
