Film Review - Candy Cane Lane (2023)

For the best part of the 80s and 90s, Eddie Murphy’s name on a film made it a license to print money. The success of the likes of Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop and Coming To America meant that, at times, he could command $20 million a movie and, even when he wasn’t quite at the height of his fame, films such as Bowfinger and Shrek meant he was still a comedy force to be reckoned with. Of late, his fortunes have been mixed, to say the least, with Dolemite Is My Name a definite highlight and now he’s back with a seasonal offering which, by all s, he’s been keen to make for some time.

Candy Cane Lane reunites him with Boomerang director, Reginald Hudlin, in the hope of re-kindling some of that 30 year old magic. Chris (Murphy) lives on Candy Cane Lane with his wife (Tracee Ellis Ross) and children and Christmas this year promises to be the most competitive ever as the residents go completely over the top with their festive decorations. Having lost his job, Chris has a huge incentive to win the prize and meeting mischievous elf Pepper (Jillian Bell) seems to provide the solution – until he realises that her spells are creating havoc all over town. With help from his family, and some living festive ornaments, it’s down to him to save Christmas for everybody – even the neighbours!

There’s a strong sense of Murphy trying to re-capture some of his former glories in what turns out to be a synthetic and sadly unfunny offering. Despite a sprinkling of his most familiar schtick – the wuss pretending to be fearless – he’s nowhere near the peak of his form. Nor is the script, which is a major problem. In a film of two distinct halves, the first part at least holds together, only to unravel like a loosely knitted woolly scarf in the second. Attempts at jokes fall flat and such obvious gags as the entire Carver family having Christmas-related names – Chris, Carol, Holly, Joy and Nick, geddit? – hardly raise a giggle.

It’s a sorry spectacle when, alongside Murphy, the cast includes reliable performers like Tracee Ellis Ross, Jillian Bell and Nick Offerman. For some reason, his character needs to speak in an English accent and, while he doesn’t rival Dick Van Dyke’s infamous effort, it’s still pretty bad. He’s criminally under-used throughout and it’s sad to watch. As is the film as a whole, which buries its message about the commercialism of Christmas so deep under a pile of plastic, trees and fairy lights that it disappears.

As a holiday movie, Candy Cane Lane will be better at inducing post-dinner naps than encouraging festive merriment. Sadly, Murphy’s Law has prevailed.