Reception and Legacy
The film was well received by critics, and in the years since its release, has joined the many classic holiday-themed films which air annually on television during the Christmas season. It currently holds an 84% "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus that "Ferrell's funny and charming performance makes Elf a delightful Christmas comedy."
The film made over $220 million at the box office worldwide, greatly exceeding its production budget of $33 million. In the US it topped the box office on its second week of release, beating out Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. In the UK it ranked #2 behind Love Actually.
- Grosses
- Domestic: $173,398,518
- Foreign: $47,044,933
- Total: $220,443,451
In the years following its cinema release, Elf has been chosen as one of the of the best Christmas films by media outlets such as British film magazine Empire, Film 4 and New York Daily News. Elf has also been voted the 3rd best Christmas film by readers of about.com and Digital Spy.
Read more about this topic: Elf (film)
Famous quotes containing the words reception and/or legacy:
“To the United States the Third World often takes the form of a black woman who has been made pregnant in a moment of passion and who shows up one day in the reception room on the forty-ninth floor threatening to make a scene. The lawyers pay the woman off; sometimes uniformed guards accompany her to the elevators.”
—Lewis H. Lapham (b. 1935)
“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)