Eddie Murphy has spent much of the last 27 years making kid-friendly flicks like “Imagine That” and “Daddy Daycare.” As such, it’s a little surprising that “Candy Cane Lane” represents his first Christmas/holiday flick. That’s the hook for this latest Amazon Prime original feature.
This brief teaser doesn’t so much explain the premise as lays out the protagonist, showing Murphy as a loving husband and father who nonetheless takes the concept of Christmas decorations a bit too far. He essentially sells his soul to a magical elf played by Jillian Bell for a holiday-related wish. Alas, much to his family’s chagrin, that wish is not world peace or a new album from Drake.
Murphy’s wish causes a spell that brings the 12 Days of Christmas to life, unleashing PG-rated chaos on the town. One can surmise that all parties learn that Christmas is not about winning a neighborhood Christmas home decoration contest.
Directed by Reginald Hudlin and written by Kelly Younger, “Candy Cane Lane” co-stars Murphy and Bell alongside Tracee Ellis Ross, Thaddeus J. Mixson, Ken Marino, Nick Offerman, Robin Thede, Chris Redd, Genneya Walton, Madison Thomas, Anjelah Johnson-Reyes, Lombardo Boyar, D.C. Young Fly, Danielle Pinnock, Timothy Simons, Riki Lindhome and the always welcome Stephen Tobolowsky. Murphy is a producer alongside Brian Grazer, Karen Lunder and Charisse Hewitt-Webster while Doug Merrifield is executive producer.
Ironically, Hudlin helmed the 1992 (R-rated) rom-com “Boomerang.” The early Halle Berry feature was considered the first “comeback” for Eddie Murphy following a post-“Coming to America” commercial slump. His big-deal comeback came in 1996 with “The Nutty Professor.
That also marked a turn whereby Murphy would go from being the creator of chaos in “comedies like “Beverly Hills Cop” or “48Hrs” to the straight man reacting to chaos in films like “Doctor Dolittle” or “A Thousand Words.” That is a frankly normal progression as onscreen comics get older, as seen in the later works of Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey.
In this film, it looks like the comic legend will be the guy who reacts in amusing ways to holiday-related antics and peril. We’ll find out if that’s truly the case when “Candy Cane Lane” debuts globally on Prime Video on Dec. 1.
