Amazon gives us yet another variant of Deck The Halls, here with a rein(deer)ed-in Eddie Murphy trying to win his street's best-decorated house prize with his old-fashioned hand-crafted display, but finds himself laid off just before Christmas as his wife heads for promotion in her job. With the added incentive of a sponsorship prize of $100K up for grabs, Murphy and his youngest daughter come across a mysterious Christmas decorations shop (Kringle's) and the festive fantasy plot elements kick in. This is one of Eddie Murphy's more consistent and effective performances, and pairing him with Tracee Ellis Ross (TV's black-ish) as his wife works extremely well. The family dynamics with the three children of various ages and interests works well, and there is fun had with the lively dialogue from the 'living' miniature Christmas figurines. The film is a little over-long with some unnecessarily extended or filler sequences, but the stuffed narrative keeps things moving along and Murphy's engaging lead performance makes Candy Cane Lane an adequate fun family Christmas film.
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