Last Updated on December 1, 2023
PLOT: Eddie Murphy stars in this holiday comedy adventure about a man on a mission to win his neighborhood’s annual Christmas home decoration contest. After Chris inadvertently makes a deal with a mischievous elf named Pepper to better his chances of winning, she casts a magic spell that brings the 12 Days of Christmas to life, and wreaks havoc on the whole town. At the risk of ruining the holidays for his family, Chris, his wife Carol, and their three children must race against the clock to break Pepper’s spell, battle deviously magical characters, and save Christmas for everyone.
REVIEW: Eddie Murphy’s career has changed dramatically over the decades. Once the most popular comedian and actor in Hollywood, Murphy’s focus shifted from edgy and mature comedies to more family-friendly fare in the late 1990s. With some recent turns invigorating his dramatic chops (Dreamgirls, Dolemite is My Name), Murphy has proven he still has drawing power in Coming 2 America and the long-anticipated fourth Beverly Hills Cop movie. Those last two films represent the first and last entry in Murphy’s three-picture deal with Amazon Studios. The middle entry is Candy Cane Lane, a blend of the actor’s family-friendly fare with his first Christmas-themed movie since Trading Places but his first true holiday-centric feature film. A combination of Doctor Dolittle and The Nutty Professor shenanigans with a heartfelt seasonal message, Candy Cane Lane is better than I expected.
While my expectations were set pretty low for Candy Cane Lane, the fact that the film surpassed that bar is not exactly a ringing endorsement. Like many Christmas-themed movies in recent years, including several that have already hit streaming services this season, Candy Cane Lane is lacking in any true energy or originality that makes it feel as joyful as Will Ferrell’s unhinged performance in Elf or even the greatness of Paul Giamatti in The Holdovers. Instead, Candy Cane Lane relies heavily on CGI shenanigans in the form of the creatures from the Twelve Days of Christmas that wreak havoc on Chris Carver (Eddie Murphy) and his family during the holiday season. Based on the real Christmas decorating contest of the same name in El Segundo, California, this film had an opportunity to tell a story rooted in competition amongst neighbors but instead opts for a supernatural adventure that feels more like a Yuletide Night at the Museum than an aspirational holiday story.
Obsessed with winning his neighborhood contest, Chris Carver and his daughter Holly (Madison Thomas) run across a mysterious pop-up store run by Pepper (Jillian Bell). Making the age-old mistake of signing something without reading the fine print, Chris buys a massive tree decoration that comes to life with partridges, geese, lords, milkmaids, and all of the other iconic elements from the timeless carol. With limited time before Christmas Eve, Chris must find five golden rings amongst the living ornaments, or he will be transformed into a porcelain doll, like newfound friends Pip (Nick Offerman), Cordelia (Robin Thede), and Lamplighter Gary (Chris Redd). Enlisting his wife, Carol (Tracee Ellis Ross), and the rest of his family, Chris must track down the various decorations that come to life before time runs out. While this could have made for a fun chase narrative, Candy Cane Lane must repeatedly slow down to focus on subplots involving eldest daughter Joy (Genneya Walton) wanting to attend a different college than the ones her parents went to and son Nick (Thaddeus J. Mixson) who wants to be a musician rather than pass his math class. There are also challenges at work for Chris and Carol, which exist just to further some of the search for the rings rather than further the plot and character development.
While Eddie Murphy is nowhere near the caliber of his classic comedies, I appreciate that he does not mug for the camera, play multiple characters, or rely on schtick in Candy Cane Lane. For the first time in a long time, Murphy plays a genuine character who just happens to be funny instead of trying too hard, an issue that caused so many movies, from The Adventures of Pluto Nash to Norbit, to suffer under the weight of excess performance. This is also a showcase for Murphy, with most of the supporting cast, including Ken Marino, Timothy Simons, Anjelah Johnson-Reyes, David Alan Grier, Danielle Pinnock, and D.C. Young Fly just along for the ride. There are plenty of funny moments throughout the movie, with Jillian Bell doing the most mugging for the camera as a solid Christmas villain. The bulk of the movie falls on Eddie Murphy and Tracee Ellis Ross, who share an easy chemistry with one another that extends to Walton, Thomas, and Mixson as the Carver kids.
Scripted by Kelly Younger and based on his actual childhood experiences living on Candy Cane Lane in El Segundo, this movie reunites Eddie Murphy with his Boomerang director, Reginald Hudlin. Hudlin, whose credits include House Party and Marshall, handles the heavy special effects work here well, with much of the CGI being far better than I had expected. That may also be due to the input from Brian Grazer and Imagine Entertainment, who boosted this film’s production values. But, even with a great soundtrack of holiday classics and a twist towards the end, there are too many directions that Candy Cane Lane tries to head in without developing any of them in a satisfactory way. Still, I was engaged enough with the story and seeing Eddie Murphy command a film in a lead role after a while that I had a better time with this than I expected. Clocking in at just about two hours, Candy Cane Lane is way too long to keep younger audiences entertained, but if you stick around for the final half hour, it almost makes it worth it.
Like the tallest elf, Candy Cane Lane being amongst the best Christmas movies this season is hardly an achievement to write home about. I enjoyed the over-the-top sequences and seeing Eddie Murphy back in the saddle without relying on prosthetics or multiple roles. Overall, Candy Cane Lane has its heart in the right place but tries to spread the story over too many subplots, which packs this overlong running time with too much to keep the attention of younger viewers and not enough consistency to engage with adults. This movie is far from tedious, but it could have been tighter and more focused on laughs. Eddie Murphy still got it, and I am surprised he took this long to make a true Christmas movie, but you could do worse than seeing the legendary comedian meeting Santa Claus. Candy Cane Lane is a fine stream this holiday season, but I doubt it will jingle many bells.
Follow the JOBLO MOVIE NETWORK
Follow us on YOUTUBE
Follow ARROW IN THE HEAD
Follow AITH on YOUTUBE