By Julian
“I have a movie review. Ho, ho, ho”. I hope anyone knows where I’ve paraphrased that quote from a certain Christmas movie classic that is to Die Hard for. (ha ha ha), Okay, alright, it sounds a bit corny but, it’s a good joke, right? Anyway, Candy Cane Lane is a pretty good Christmas movie. I’m sure some critics won’t like it, but it’s a hit with audiences. That’s okay with me too, because I liked it. Right, what is this story about?
Image via Amazon Prime VideoChris Carver (Eddie Murphy) is a man who carves his Christmas town in his downtime for the local Christmas neighborhood decoration competition and never wins. Later on he gets laid off having him more compelled to win this year because money is involved. However, he and his daughter Holly (Madison Thomas) happen upon an out-of-place Christmas store run by an elf named Pepper (Jillian Bell) and buy decorations to win. The catch is the elf got demoted by Santa and is looking to get revenge. With the help of his wife Carol (Tracie Ellis Ross), track and field daughter Joy (Genneya Walton) and tuba player/music dj Nick (Thaddeus J. Mixon), and three people named Pip (Nick Offerman), Lamplighter Gary (Chris Redd), and Cordelia (Robin Thede) who are all turned into to little townspeople who failed Pepper’s game, Chris intends to play along to find all the golden rings before she ruins the spirit of Christmas forever.
Image via Amazon Prime VideoThis movie was a lot of fun, and it had a cheesy 90s feel that I thought was charming. Murphy plays a really good relatable character who might remind black audiences of their fathers and their favorite hobbies during Christmas time. Ross and the kid actors were pretty good as they served as the emotional anchor to the story. Bell’s Pepper and the little townspeople are the comedic aspect and the overall arc of the story to get these people back to their normal selves. There is one other cameo, but I won’t spoil it here because it’s a surprise gift.
Image Via Amazon Prime VideoCandy Cane Lane is for sure to be a holiday-cult classic in the years to come. I actually would not mind if they made another movie. However the fear of that happening is that it will get increasingly dumber and dumber. So unless they have a good screenwriter for the sequel, the first movie should be enough. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
