'Elf' tops poll of overrated Christmas movies

Watch: Trailer for the 2019 re-release of Elf

Will Ferrell comedy Elf has been crowned the most overrated Christmas classic ever made.

Despite topping our list of the best Christmas movies of the 21st century, it seems Jon Favreau’s 2003 film is far from universally beloved.

In a poll carried out by Metro, a fifth of voters chose Elf as the most overrated festive film.

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Perhaps unsurprisingly, the always divisive Love Actually finished second place on the list with 16% of the vote, followed by Home Alone (8%), Die Hard (7%) and It’s a Wonderful Life (6%).

Equally interesting are the movies at the bottom of the poll, with only one per cent of those surveyed believing Paul Feig’s Last Christmas to be overrated — perhaps as a result of its critical pasting.

Also only noted by one per cent of voters were The Santa Clause, Jingle All The Way and Deck The Halls, perhaps suggesting that undemanding comedies with high cheese factor get an easier ride from audiences than critics.

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Elf is one of the most beloved Christmas movies of the last few decades, featuring Ferrell as a human raised by elves who travels from the North Pole to New York City to track down his biological father.

Alongside Ferrell and James Caan as his curmudgeonly father, the cast includes Zooey Deschanel, Mary Steenburgen, Peter Dinklage and Bob Newhart.

Given its acclaim, box office success — to the tune of $220m (£164m) — and considerable legacy, talk of a sequel to Elf inevitably surfaces every year.

Favreau has always been keen to return to the director’s chair, though Ferrell has spoken about misgivings around looking “pathetic” if he tries to “squeeze back into the elf tights”.

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Caan said earlier this year that the planned sequel, provisionally titled Elf 2: Buddy Saves Christmas, was scuppered by the fact Ferrell and Favreau didn’t really get along.

He said: “The director and Will didn’t get along very well. So, Will wanted to do it, he didn’t want the director, and he had it in his contract. It was one of those things.”

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