CANDY CANE LANE (AMAZON PRIME) (2023)

SYNOPSIS: Eddie Murphy stars in this holiday comedy adventure about a man on a mission to win his neighborhood’s annual Christmas home decoration contest and inadvertently makes a deal with a mischievous elf that brings the 12 Days of Christmas to life.

MOVIE REVIEW:

The best performance in Candy Cane Lane surprisingly doesn’t comes from Eddie Murphy but the meticulous wonderful production and design work that goes to making this holiday theme movie a feast to the eyes. It’s probably an achievement in itself since it has been a while since we see such detailing on the screen.

In this Christmas, family-friendly comedy, Murphy plays Chris Carver, a man who has recently been laid off from his job. Chris decides to focus his attention in winning the annual house decoration contest which comes with a top prize of $100,000. Together with his youngest daughter, Holly (Madison Thomas), the duo stumbles onto a mysterious Christmas pop-up store run by an equally mysterious woman, Pepper (Jillian Bell). Without looking at the fine print, Chris signed the long receipt and brought home a 12 days of Christmas theme tree.

It turns out Pepper is a rogue elf banished by Santa. She has cast a spell on the tree and in order to break it, Chris has to obtain five golden rings before he is turned into a porcelain Christmas figurine. A wild goose chase is set and the Carvers has to learn the true meaning behind Christmas before they can save Daddy Chris.

The plot of Candy Cane Lane while busy is all too familiar. There’s the usual holiday magic, lots of Christmas songs, family members coming together to learn about what is important and some silly slapstick humour. But those expecting Murphy’s trademark brand of improv comedy will come off disappointed as our man seems awkwardly subtle and restrained here. Jillian Bell is fine even though she gets a few funny lines. In fact, it’s the guys that play the cursed Christmas figurines that are genuinely more rib-tickling.

The momentum and silliness never quite match up to the enthusiasm of the cast as Candy Cane Lane runs close to two hours. As expected, Santa makes a grand entrance in the finale but the script by Kelly Younger does little to elevate the already exhausting ongoings of the ring hunt.

Despite being labelled as Murphy’s first holiday movie, Candy Cane Lane isn’t going to be remember as a classic Christmas movie down the road liked Elf or Miracle on 34th Street. Still, the overall CGI by ILM is remarkable and as prior mentioned, the production design team deserve a raise. At least MGM Amazon didn’t opt for the cheaply made route.

MOVIE RATING:

Review by Linus Tee