Move over, Sonny Corleone: 'Elf' showcased James Caan's soul

You're going to read an awful lot about Sonny Corleone over the next few days.

That's only natural. James Caan, the tough leading man who portrayed the explosively violent and oldest of Vito Corleone's sons in "The Godfather," died July 6 at 82. Among his many enduring roles - which include Chicago Bears running back Brian Piccolo in 1971's "Brian's Song," the debt-ridden English professor in the original 1974 version of "The Gambler" and the heroic Staff Sergeant Dohun in 1977's World War II epic "A Bridge Too Far" - Sonny is the one average filmgoers will likely remember 50 years from now.

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Talking about Sonny makes sense, but it might not be what he wanted. As he told The Washington Post some 42 years ago, "Everyplace I go, I spend half my time undoing Sonny Corleone."

So let's talk about something else. Let's talk about Walter Hobbs.

Caan's character in the 2003 family-friendly holiday comedy "Elf" might not be the first thing that sprung to the minds of most film critics when his death was announced, but it's certainly the one occupying my mind. I'm not the least bit embarrassed by this, nor should you be if you're in the same camp. It's easily one of his best performances in a career in which each seemed to best the last.

Am I biased? Of course. Anyone with any sort of positive relationship with "Elf" - i.e. most people who have seen it - would be, too. My mother, Mindy, adores "Elf" more than any other film (including "The Godfather") and, as a result, fires it up at least once every December (and usually again in July) to watch with my brother Tyler and me.

I am far from alone in this experience.

On the first watch, you notice Will Ferrell's Buddy the Elf. How could you not, with six-plus feet of manic, hyperactive flesh snug in his elf garb, the definition of exuberance, a sugar high fueled by jelly beans coated in maple syrup?

As with all successful family films, the movie manages to delight parent and child alike, partially by introducing the younger generation to an army of Hollywood's elder statesmen. "That's Bob Newhart playing Papa Elf," your mama might exclaim. "And Santa is Ed Asner?! You know, from my old favorite sitcoms like 'Lou Grant' and 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show.' "

And there's Caan - there's Sonny Corleone, Paul Sheldon, Tony Archer, Brian Piccolo, the dude from "Thief" - as the gruff, absent father who needs to learn the meaning of Christmas. That's who you notice on the second watch. And the third. And so forth until you can't remember how many times you've watched it.

"Elf" is just like "The Godfather," really: It doesn't work without James Caan. He might not play the main character in either, but he's one of the most important in both. And, in some ways, "Elf" highlights a certain natural progression of his career. It went a whole lot farther in undoing Sonny Corleone than, say, "Misery."

Caan might have seemed like an unusual choice for a broad holiday comedy, the seriousness of his career and sternness of his characters almost off-putting. It's particularly striking given how picky he could be - he rejected starring roles in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "Apocalypse Now," "Blade Runner" and "Superman" (because he didn't want to wear a cape), among others.

In "Elf," he was able to channel a workaholic publishing executive who refuses to reprint a children's book missing a couple of pages in the name of the almighty dollar, and who is annoyed - if not terrified - to learn he might unknowingly have a son from a previous relationship. Caan drew on the rigid, hardened and sometimes explosive tough guys for which he'd become known, toning it down to fit a holiday film. He's prickly, but not a complete jerk, tough but vulnerable. Just cruel enough to end up on the naughty list, but just empathetic enough to pull himself off it - after a little help from the family he loves, often despite himself.

Pitting the capitol-S Serious actor against Ferrell's manic creation was part of director Jon Favreau's plan, though it made for a nervous crew. "All of us were a little scared of James Caan," producer Jon Berg said in the Netflix documentary series "The Movies That Made Us."

That fear didn't last. Just leave it to Ferrell. "The first time I met him I just put him in a bear hug and yelled 'Dad!' I thought that would break the ice," he told the entertainment website Blackfilm in 2003.

Knowing that the key was to have Caan's Walter bristle against Ferrell's Buddy, the former "Saturday Night Live" actor and improv comedian decided to agitate the Oscar-winner until he made the journey from annoyance to bemusement.

"I was really lucky that my job in the film was to try to drive him crazy, and I would. I would try to offset anything he could throw at me," Ferrell told Blackfilm. "I knew it was driving him crazy on one level. It's great to see Jimmy in a way that we're not used to seeing him in and it adds to the effect. His specific casting in that role adds to obviously why it works so well."

Caan had "a great sense of humor. So if you could make him laugh, all the tension disappears. We kept him laughing, and he kept us laughing," Favreau told Rolling Stone. "It took him a while to get with the programming. I surrounded him with a lot of improvisers, like Andy Richter and Kyle Gass and Amy Sedaris. When I'm working with improv people, I give them the green light to just bring it and try things. So every take was different. Eventually, something just clicked in Jimmy and he just went with it. He was a lot of fun. We ended up hanging out a lot off-set. Whenever we'd go into an Italian restaurant, they'd put on 'The Godfather' soundtrack. Everywhere he goes, 'The Godfather' theme."

No, "Elf" probably won't be added to the Criterion Collection anytime soon. It didn't sweep at Cannes; ponderous documentaries won't be made about it. The headlines you'll read this week will likely focus on "The Godfather." But every December - and maybe even July - we'll be focused on "Elf," waiting for the moment when Caan's Walter puts on that Santa coat and begrudgingly belts "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town."

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