Who knew there were bad elves in Lapland?
That's the premise of Reginald Hudlin's Amazon Prime Christmas movie 'Candy Cane Lane' with Eddie Murphy.
The elf in question is Jillian Bell's Pepper.
But we'll get to her in a minute.
Murphy plays Chris Carver, a Christmas mad father of three who lives in El Segundo's Festive obsessed neighbourhood in California, Candy Cane Lane which actually does exist.
Chris is so Christmas mad, he is married to Tracee Ellis Ross's Carol and his kids also sport Festive related names like Genneya Walton's Joy, Thaddeus J Mixson's Nick and Madison Thomas's Holly.
He's really into the annual competition for the best decorated house in the neighbourhood at Christmas, which this year has the added spice of a TV show offering $100,000 to the winner.
The Carvers' main rivals for the crown are Ken Marino's Bruce and Anjela Johnson-Rhys' Shelley who have won the title the most in recent years with illuminated, inflatable Christmas characters.
Another ingredient Hudlin throws into the mix is the laying off of Chris at the industrial plastics firm where he works.
Rather than hunt for a new job, Chris relies on Carol to land a plum promotion in the Amazon style parcel distribution centre where she works and is focused on winning the $100,000.
Normally Chris carves his own decorations but he decides to buy some decorations this time because his rivals have won in the past by buying tat.
Taking Holly with him, he stumbles upon an unusual Christmas shop called Kringle's in a highway underpass.
A kind of Christmas equivalent of 'Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium,' they encounter Pepper for the first time who's a little odd but sweet talks them buying an ornate Christmas tree in a huge tin which Chris straps to the roof of his SUV.
During the purchase, Pepper produces a massive receipt which Chris signs without reading the terms and conditions on it.
Returning home with the massive tree, Chris impresses his family and neighbours as he unfolds it to reveal ornate wood carvings.
However the following morning there's chaos when turtle doves, French hens, geese and swans burst out of the tree decorations and go on the rampage.
It soon becomes clear that as part of the terms and conditions, Chris must collect five gold rings or face a curse from Pepper who has snared other victims in the past.
Can Chris collect the five gold rings in return for his Christmas wish to win the decoration competition?
Or will he pay Pepper's price on Christmas Eve?
'Candy Cane Lane' reunites Murphy with his 'Boomerang' director Hudlin and it has to be acknowledged it's a very smart looking production that revels in the Christmas spirit.
© Amazon MGM StudiosThere's touches of 'Jumanji' style zaniness to the film, with Nick confronting a milkmaid in one scene while Joy and Chris square off against Lords A Leaping.
However try as they might, Murphy and his cast mates never quite land the Festive laughs that Hudlin and his screenwriter Kelly Younger are aiming for.
The zaniness often feels quite forced, with Younger trying to shoehorn flaccid jokes into the film.
The use of animated figures in the story voiced by, among others, Nick Offerman, Robin Thede and Chris Redd also proves irritating.
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As Pip, Offerman in particular sports a grating "Lahndan" accent that threatens to veer into Dick Van Dyke "Cockerny".
The occasional contributions of Danielle Pinnock and Timothy Simons as studio based hosts of the Candy Cane Lane competition TV show from time to time are also very annoying.
Bell turns in such a hammy performance as Pepper, you're half expecting Nigella Lawson to turn up, boil her in Coca Cola, smother her in honey and stick her in the oven.
To be fair, Hudlin sets out to make a different kind of Christmas family adventure.
But it has none of the subversion of 'Bad Santa' nor the. charm of 'Elf'.
Instead we are served up a tiresome convoluted nightmare before Christmas that struggles to land its laughs.
Hudlin knows his MVP is Murphy and while the star is amiable enough, he ultimately cannot save a movie which doesn't connect the heart with the funny bone like all the Christmas movie classics.
'Candy Cane Lane' is a very average film that fails to justify the almost two hours it demands of its audience.
When we get to Christmas 2024, I doubt most of us will be scurrying back to watch it. unlike an earlier Murphy classic 'Trading Places'.
That is the yardstick by which it must be measured.
Hudlin's film falls woefully short.
('Candy Cane Lane' was made available for streaming on Amazon Prime on December 1, 2023)
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