Candy Cane Lane (2023)
2023
PG
117 Minutes
A man, determined to win the neighborhood's annual Christmas decorating contest, makes a pact with an elf to help him win. However, the elf casts a spell bringing the twelve days of Christmas to li...
User Review
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Now we’re getting to my favorite time of the year, peeps. Stockings are up, lights are out, it’s hopefully snowing wherever you are and the mood should be cheerful. So how about a little drive down “Candy Cane Lane”?
Definitely gave me more fun than Silent Night, I’ll say that much. But it is still stunningly uneven.
Overstuffed like a Christmas stocking and nutty as a chestnut, this film’s narrative bedrock is a messy melody between the basic premise of It’s A Wonderful Life, Jingle All The Way and Jumanji, somehow integrated with the subliminal themes from Drag Me to Hell of all films, amongst the GIANT DELUGE of other genre mashups like cornball family drama and slapstick comedy just to name a few. It’s already a LOT of set-up for such a bog-standard Christmas flick and the end result feels like three different movies spliced into a woodchucker; the atonality that comes from the bizarre theatrics is crazy and the script doesn’t have the depth or wit required to make it all flow smoothly. It honestly feels as if the concept and idea came first and Kelly had to frantically write everything else around it for before an upcoming deadline; you can REALLY tell the movie’s playing fast and loose with its internal logic once we get to the third act, and it feels like it's making the rules up as it goes along: essentially an anything-goes-surrealist extravaganza.
While it’s CG visual flair isn’t as distracting as I thought it would, the slapstick is unintentionally funny in how it tries to go the other way and the execution of the familial drama doesn’t feel all that necessary, especially since the importance of said family is never really taught beyond the expected meandering exposition dumps. It’s familiar lessons about the value of giving and family over commercialism and superficiality don’t hit the same when the structure is so warped. And the less I talk about the substandard dialogue exchanges, the better.
Thankfully, Reginald Hudlin’s direction is inductive of someone having as much fun with the shenanigans as the cast and crew. He’s aware of the imbalance between cheesiness and the half-baked exhausted silliness that cheapen the stakes but he doesn’t sleepwalk through the charade.
There’s a comfortably cozy atmosphere at play that does take a little leeway from how distractingly the sunny California setting dampens the mood and thank god it doesn’t border entirely on the cheap Hallmark-level sentimentality we’re used to seeing. Production design has some genuinely imaginative set pieces, costumes are expectedly colorful and spicy, and despite the material, the rest of the cast look to be having a good time, uneven performances and all.
Tracee Ellis Ross is way too good for this film, exonerating genuine charm and likability with each frame, and it’s the best I’ve seen from Jillian Bell in god knows how long. Nick Offerman’s accent though, yeah, that bit was rough to hear. Also, Eddie Murphy himself…..felt like he was sleepwalking through it.
Also, what’s the point in mentioning the cinematography and editing? They’re both really solid and in the end, there’s not enough to comment on about either element.
What more can I say? If you’re expecting this film to switch up the formula or anything, you need to get those thoughts out of your head and quickly but don’t expect this one to…..make much sense. It’s one of those “Turn-your-brain-off-and-enjoy-em flicks but that can sometimes be tricky to do due to how much happens on such short notice.0 member like this review.
