It has been a long time since I last saw a Christmas film, it seems as if the holiday season sort of lost its mark in Hollywood for a while, replaced with your generic hallmark titles and less on the fun, simplistic adventure films focused around the holiday. Perhaps some of this was the fact that cinemas were seeing less interest in recent years, and especially around the holidays as people choose to stay inside with family or travel. Streaming services have still been getting up on their feet still despite their ages, still figuring out what people want and how to justify their (endless increases in) price. With this comes a realisation that the old way actually worked pretty well, and thus we're back to the holiday celebrations, realising that people at home means people scrolling through streaming service libraries to watch something in the evening with family, and to keep children occupied. It has been a while since I saw a Christmas production have some budget, though. A surprise to see that the first in a while I have seen comes from the awful service of Amazon's Prime Video. Another surprise was that it's the second most watched thing here in Armenia on the platform -- Amazon doesn't even operate in the country.
With the maturity of streaming services also comes the addition of more recognisable faces in the productions, more risk thrown in attempt to gain more eyes. To see Eddie Murphy return to the screen in a lead role is actually quite the treat, the comedian sort of disappearing for a while as he aged, a bit of a hiatus after his best days in the 80s and 90s, then the somewhat lackluster comedies and titles that came about in the early 2000s. Though this return from Murphy doesn't seem desperate, it seems quite organic. Working quite well, and perhaps this is from his character being a more aged father figure, leading into the atmosphere of Christmas and family struggles. This is something in films and television that has also been a bit abandoned, the idea of healthy families and the regular challenges they face. Candy Cane Lane seems to contain some of this, and very quickly it felt like it had some relatable charm to it. Pulling on your seasonal heart strings.
This post will feature some slight spoilers regarding the film and its narrative. So this is your little warning in the event you want to watch the film first, if you have not yet done so.
Candy Cane Lane
One of the first things I noticed and appreciated about Candy Cane Lane was its cinematography. So much so that I quickly paused the film and went straight to IMDb to see what camera and lenses they used. The film had a very anamorphic look to it, which was a result of the oval bokeh in the backgrounds, as well as the 2.39 : 1 aspect ratio, incredibly wide and cinematic. Though it didn't make much sense to me why all the scenes seemed to look anamorphic, an expensive lens to use and not always the best option. It came to my attention that the lenses were not anamorphic, but Leica lenses intentionally crafted to pursue a very vintage look, something you'd see from old 35mm film camera lenses. This results in a very beautiful image in which there is sharpness, but a very smooth texture to lighting; no flares, but a rounded smoothing. As if the lens had been smothered in a gentle layer of grease, almost. That doesn't sound so appealing, sure, but visually it gives off a dreamy aesthetic. Something very useful in portraying magical and fantasy elements to a narrative, of which Candy Cane Lane does. Making the magic of Christmas really punch through the screen to the audience. I actually have a photography filter on my camera that performs the same smoothing! Very fun.
A positive to this smoothing effect is that it helps hide some of the special effects, something that often stand out a bit too much in modern films as these special effects in backgrounds or foregrounds tend to stick out with their less realistic visuals compared to the surroundings. Smoothing everything blends them into the visuals nicely, making it all stick together, not distracting at all and contributing to the aforementioned magical appeal of the Christmas holiday. There are moments in which the special effects do look a bit more blatant, moments where entire backgrounds are rendered, for example. This didn't really bother me, but it's something I've come to expect from Prime Video originals; also highly noticeable in Amazon's Upload and The Peripheral series also.
Eddie Murphy plays a father that has a highly competitive neighbour when it comes to decorating their homes around Christmas. This year, there's a $100,000 prize up for grabs for the winner of the most beautifully decorated home. At first this doesn't mean much to him, and the competitive nature is the main goal for the decorations. But Murphy's character, just around Christmas, happens to lose his job. It's kind of funny how instead of trying to find another and pursue his career, he opts for the challenge of trying to win the contest and win the money. But hey, it's a family film so this isn't too surprising. With this, the character discovers upon a strange Christmas themed store underneath a busy highway, walking in, he ends up accepting a deal with an elf that promises to help him win. It's a bit of a trap, however. And the result is that his magical Christmas tree comes to life, bringing with it the twelve days of Christmas. With the decorations coming to life, he now has to try to find them all. This brings a series of challenges he has to face. Collecting five gold rings, for example, before a certain date.
It is the twelve days of Christmas that gives the film motion, as they are tormenting the family in different ways, leading them on a chase to find each of those rings. And of course this is where the comedy starts to weave itself into the narrative, silly moments in which the characters react and engage with the odd events that suddenly start unfolding. Mischievous animals appearing in their day-to-day lives, the characters chasing after them. Some of the humour becomes your typical family adventure type of comedy, slapstick and cartoonish moments. It really reminded me of older family films with that simplicity, giving the film a bit of everything for each member of the family. Even down to the more adult jokes which were present much earlier in the film, mostly through the dialogue as the clashing of neighbours ensues. Pacing comes with the father engaging with model figures that seem to have hints and clues towards solving the problems; former individuals stuck in 'Christmas Village' having failed their challenges.
Some of the humour comes in the modernisation of film, the references to pop culture, the influencer side of things and the general slang and youth culture. I didn't enjoy this side so much, but I never really have when it comes to films. Instead it makes them feel too specific to the present, and incredibly dated a few years later due to the references made as culture quickly changes. But I think the film makes up for this in every other regard. In its visuals, its set design and lighting. It really doesn't have flaws in this aspect. Perhaps more in the narrative, but the filmmaking side for a streaming service title is pretty good. And critics may have been so harsh on the film due to the runtime, where it sticks around for two hours when it could have been reduced by removing some of those more obnoxious moments.
If you have seen the more family titles featuring Murphy, then you really know what to expect from it. It's something he's certainly made a few times before, but with a bit more quality and attention to detail with it.
