ELF (PG, 96mins) Comedy. Will Ferrell, Edward Asner, James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, Bob Newhart, Mary Steenburgen, Daniel Tay.

aT one time or another, we have all felt lonely and isolated - as if we simply don't fit in.

Buddy (Ferrell) has felt that way his entire life.

Abandoned by his parents as a baby, he spent his formative years at an orphanage, until one Christmas Eve, he escaped his crib and crawled undetected into Santa's bag of toys.

Raised as an elf at the North Pole by his surrogate father (Newhart), Buddy is acutely aware that he doesn't belong: for a start, he is three times larger than everyone else.

Santa Claus (Asner) loves Buddy with all of his heart, and so he encourages the adopted elf to travel to New York City to meet his biological father, Walter (Caan), a penny-pinching publisher of children's books who cares more about his ailing empire than his family.

Surrounded by people who don't believe in Christmas or indeed Santa Claus, Buddy resolves to bring the magic back to the holiday season.

In the process, he reunites with his dad and forges a romance with a cute department store worker called Jovie (Deschanel).

Elf is a hugely enjoyable and extremely fluffy slice of sugar-coated family entertainment, spreading tidings of comfort and joy.

Screenwriter David Berenbaum borrows liberally from other festive favourites including Miracle On 34th Street, A Christmas Carol and even Jingle All The Way to fashion a heart-warming parable about errant fathers and the over-commercialisation of Christmas.

Ferrell exudes a childlike innocence in the lead role which endears Buddy to us as he struggles to get to grips with life in the big city.

His enthusiasm for life is infectious and despite everything that life throws at him, Buddy always tries to make the best of a bad situation.

The friction with Caan's modern day Ebenezer Scrooge thaws nicely as the film progresses.

The romantic subplot is a bit flimsy despite some nicely awkward scenes between Buddy and Jovie. ("My tongue swells up when I'm around you," he tells her nervously at one point.)

It's great to see screen veterans Asner and Newhart in supporting roles and director Jon Favreau drizzles on the schmaltz for the rousing, feelgood finale.