Eddie Murphy and Tracee Ellis Ross star in “Candy Cane Lane,” Embracing the Holiday Spirit and Bringing the Twelve Days of Christmas to Life
As the holiday season encircles us, please join me in welcoming Tracee Ellis Ross and Eddie Murphy’s new Christmas comedy movie, “Candy Cane Lane.” The film released straight to Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service last Friday, and is a family-friendly movie perfect for conjuring the magic of Christmas and spreading that good old holiday cheer.
Murphy stars as Chris Carver, a suburban dad recently laid off and looking for a win, joined by Tracee Ellis Ross as his wife. The Rosses live on Candy Cane Lane, and every Christmas the neighborhood undergoes a house decoration competition, where every year Chris makes carefully crafted wood carvings, only to lose to his neighbors tacky collection of Christmas inflatables. This year, the stakes are higher than ever before as the competition is picked up by a local news station offering a $100,000 cash prize to the winning house. Determined to win the money by any means necessary, Chris conveniently stumbles upon a strange Christmas themed pop up store and purchases a gigantic Christmas tree adorned with huge ornaments representing the Twelve Days of Christmas carol, right up to a majestic partridge at the top of the tree. Though, there’s a catch. Chris sets up the one-of-a-kind tree in his yard, much to the envy of his neighbors, and he believes he’s already won, until the Christmas ornaments come to life and escape. Chris and his family have to track down all of the ornaments before the day of the competition or else Chris will be transformed into a miniature Christmas ornament version of himself.
The film is inspired by the real Candy Cane Lane located in El Segundo, California, which hosts its own annual Christmas decoration competition. Murphy’s “Candy Cane Lane” pokes fun at the El Segundo ritual, while embracing and honoring its yearly festivity. One of the film’s writers even grew up on Candy Cane Lane, and supplies the film with an authentic perspective into the holiday tradition.
Murphy recently said in an interview with AP News, “we want to do something that’s going to be around forever… I think we made a movie like that, that people will watch over and over again.” Whether or not “Candy Cane Lane” will stand the test of time as a Christmas classic remains to be seen, but it is certainly a movie that demonstrates the true meaning of the holiday in a light-hearted and entertaining way, packed with a hilarious energy only achievable by the spirited duo that is Murphy and Ross.
If you’re looking for a good holiday watch, or if you’re a fan of Tracee Eliss Ross and/or Eddie Murphy, you can check it out today on Amazon prime.
