Candy Cane Lane (film)

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Candy Cane Lane
Release poster
Directed byReginald Hudlin
Written byKelly Younger
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyNewton Thomas Sigel
Edited by
  • Jim May
  • Kenny G. Krauss
Music byMarcus Miller
Production
companies
Distributed byAmazon Prime Video
Release date
  • December 1, 2023 (2023-12-01)
Running time
120 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Candy Cane Lane is a 2023 American Christmas comedy film directed by Reginald Hudlin and written by Kelly Younger. The film stars Eddie Murphy, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jillian Bell, Thaddeus J. Mixon, Ken Marino, Trevante Rhodes, David Alan Grier, and Nick Offerman.

Candy Cane Lane was released by Amazon Prime Video on December 1, 2023.

Plot

Chris Carver has crafted his own hand-carved decorations for the local neighborhood Christmas decoration competition but has never won, thus being jealous of his neighbor who repeatedly wins with inflatable dolls. Shortly before Christmas, he is laid off, leading to him desperately competing for the Christmas contest new-found prize of $100,000.

Looking for supplies, Chris and his daughter stumble across a mysterious Christmas shop filled with beautiful decorations and figurines. When presented with the receipt, a hesitating Chris is urged to sign it by shopkeeper Pepper without reading the fine print, upsetting the seemingly alive figurines. Using the new decoration, the family impresses at the competition.

The next day, the decorations are gone, seemingly having turned into live animals. Chris, however, blames the neighbors. Upon returning to the shop, they learn that Pepper is an evil Christmas elf that has tricked him into a Faustian bargain. Her victims are transformed into living figurines that inhabit her store. They tell them that they have to find five golden rings held by their missing decorations, now alive, or else Chris will turn into a figurine as well. They rescue the figurines, who offer to help them find the rings and defeat Pepper.

At a track meeting where Joy competes, Pepper has the remaining decorations attack the family. The entire family is subsequently fighting to retrieve the decorations, nonetheless they manage to retrieve four of the five rings. With the help of the figurines, they realize Pepper has the last ring and manage to lure her into a trap, collecting the last ring.

When Chris presents the five rings to Pepper, she claims he actually had to collect 40 rings. With the help of Santa Claus, the figurines, and their neighbors, they retrieve most of the rings but Pepper has cheated by turning the clock forward five minutes, which turns Chris into a glass figurine prematurely. Having only 38 rings, Santa reminds them that their weddings rings are also golden, bringing the total number up to 40, breaking the curse. Santa also helps the other figurines to return to human form and allows Pepper to return to his workshop, where he turns her into a figurine as punishment. Chris now is the new owner of Pepper's shop and it is revealed that he finally won the competition; however, the prize turned out to be $100,000 in Taco coupons.

Cast

Additionally, Pentatonix (Scott Hoying, Kirstin Maldonado, Mitch Grassi, Kevin Olusola and Matt Sallee) portray carolers.

Production

In July 2022, it was reported that Eddie Murphy would star in and produce a new holiday comedy film as part of a three-film first-look deal with Amazon Prime Video. Reginald Hudlin, who directed Murphy in Boomerang (1992), would direct, while Kelly Younger wrote the script, inspired by his childhood holiday experiences.[1] In January 2023, Tracee Ellis Ross was cast opposite Murphy.[2][3] Jillian Bell, Robin Thede, Nick Offerman, Chris Redd and Danielle Pinnock were cast in the film.[4][5][6] The film is produced by Murphy, Brian Grazer, Karen Lunder, and Charisse Hewitt-Webster, and executive produced by Doug Merrifield.[7]

Principal photography took place in Los Angeles from December 2022 to February 2023.[8][9]

Release

Candy Cane Lane was released on December 1, 2023 by Amazon MGM Studios on their streaming service Prime Video.[7]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 45% of 64 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.5/10. The website's consensus reads: "Candy Cane Lane gets credit for its willingness to get weird, but in most other respects, this Eddie Murphy-led holiday comedy is a dead end."[10] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 47 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[11]

Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a score of two out of four, writing "Candy Cane Lane is a stunningly uneven film that careens between cornball family drama, slapstick comedy and special-effects-laden gimmickry".[12] James Dyer writing for Empire scored the film a three out of five saying, "Part It's A Wonderful Life, part Drag Me To Hell, this unholy concoction of ideas is unlikely to become a seasonal staple, but sift through the nonsense and there’s a surprising amount to enjoy in this bonkers Noel nightmare. In what other film can you hear the phrase, 'This chicken is trippin'', and watch a psychotic elf kick Black Santa in the nuts?".[13]

Owen Gleiberman of Variety criticized Murphy's persona as being too "forced". He further explained: "I wouldn't call Candy Cane Lane one of Murphy's good comedies; it's too long, too jammed together, and beneath it all too Christmas cookie cutter. Yet Murphy inhabits the role of a doting dad who lives for Christmas with reassuring ease". He closed his review writing, "Candy Cane Lane shows you that the Christmas movie as we've known it may be all used up, and that it has now entered its anything-goes surrealist phrase. 'Tis the season to be batty".[14]

References

  1. ^ Jackson, Angelique (July 19, 2022). "Eddie Murphy to Star in Holiday Comedy 'Candy Cane Lane' for Prime Video". Variety. Archived from the original on February 5, 2023. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
  2. ^ Grobar, Matt (January 3, 2023). "Tracee Ellis Ross Joins Eddie Murphy In Prime Video's Holiday Comedy 'Candy Cane Lane'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 8, 2023. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
  3. ^ Jackson, Angelique (January 3, 2023). "Tracee Ellis Ross Joins Eddie Murphy in 'Candy Cane Lane' for Prime Video". Variety. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
  4. ^ Grobar, Matt (January 4, 2023). "Jillian Bell Joins Eddie Murphy, Tracee Ellis Ross In Prime Video' Holiday Comedy 'Candy Cane Lane'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 5, 2023. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
  5. ^ Jackson, Angelique (January 5, 2023). "Robin Thede, Nick Offerman and Chris Redd Join Eddie Murphy's 'Candy Cane Lane' (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on February 5, 2023. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
  6. ^ Grobar, Matt (January 13, 2023). "'Ghosts' Star Danielle Pinnock Latest To Board Prime Video Holiday Comedy 'Candy Cane Lane' With Eddie Murphy". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 5, 2023. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
  7. ^ a b Complex, Valerie (September 5, 2023). "Prime Video Presents Candy Cane Lane Starring Eddie Murphy, And Tracee Ellis Ross; Film Premieres Exclusively On Prime Video This Winter". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 5, 2023. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  8. ^ "Candy Cane Lane Production List". Film & Television Industry Alliance. October 31, 2022. Archived from the original on February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  9. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 10, 2023). "Eddie Murphy Prime Video Movie 'Candy Cane Lane' Adds Ken Marino, Anjelah Johnson-Reyes & D.C. Young Fly". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  10. ^ "Candy Cane Lane". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  11. ^ "Candy Cane Lane". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  12. ^ Roeper, Richard (November 30, 2023). "Candy Cane Lane takes Eddie Murphy to some strange and unfunny places". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on November 30, 2023. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  13. ^ Dyer, James (November 30, 2023). "Candy Cane Lane Review". Empire. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  14. ^ Gleiberman, Owen (December 3, 2023). "Candy Cane Lane Review: Eddie Murphy in a Cozy and Rather Loopy Christmas Movie". Variety. Retrieved December 3, 2023.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Candy_Cane_Lane_(film)&oldid=1191367392"