Candy Cane Lane feels like a film ripped straight out of the late 90s and early 2000s. I should know, because that’s when I was a kid and watched this exact type of bad live-action comedy on repeat and instantly forgot them until my next viewing.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Dec 4, 2024

Filled with holiday tropes and cliches, like elves, exuberant decorations and black Santa, Candy Cane Lane is a comforting Christmas film that will leave you with the message of hope, love and family.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 22, 2024

This Christmas comedy is oddly boring and has so many sequences that we could’ve done away with.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jul 4, 2024

Candy Cane Lane lacks emotional resonance, but the simplicity of its message allows it to be solid enough for a Christmas movie.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jul 3, 2024

It does stand out in one area, offering more product placement than any movie in recent memory. It's all very sad.

| Original Score: 0.5/4 | Feb 18, 2024

Candy Cane Lane has “instant classic” written all over it, and has the potential to boldly go where no Black Christmas movie has gone before because of the universality of the story and the crossover appeal of Murphy and Ross.

| Jan 22, 2024

Eddie Murphy and director Reginald Hudlin have worked together before, in "Boomerang." Hudlin grew up in East St Louis and recently received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Cinema St. Louis. It is fun to watch and has a little edge to it.

| Original Score: B- | Jan 1, 2024

Funny family film for the holidays

| Dec 25, 2023

[The film] is so anonymous as a festive offering — a prefab assemblage of holiday parts at best, A.I. spittle at worst — that there’s no room for any directorial signature at all, despite the outrageously bloated (for a Christmas movie) two-hour runtime.

| Dec 25, 2023

A cliched, but still enjoyable holiday romp for the entire family, Candy Cane Lane is one of those Christmas movies that feels familiar and likeable at the same time.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Dec 20, 2023

For folks who feel holiday movies are too pat and predicable, this one is nutty as a fruitcake. And as with fruitcake, this is a flick some people will love and some people will hate.

| Dec 20, 2023

Candy Cane Lane is a film ideally suited for viewers seeking a fresh, frivolous festive Christmas experience. And for those who want to sit back with a movie that’s not vying for Oscar glory now that it’s December.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Dec 18, 2023

Candy Cane Lane is nowhere near five gold rings, but more like a solid three French hens, largely due to Eddie Murphy’s ability to deliver the laughs.

| Dec 15, 2023

Weirdness, yes; joviality, not so much...goes increasingly bonkers yet manages to be simultaneously manic and leaden, striving desperately to be hilarious and feel enchanting but failing miserably at both.

| Original Score: D | Dec 14, 2023

An out-and-out hoot...One of Eddie Murphy’s best family movies, it chimes in as a warm, winning fantasy comedy...And be sure to catch the bloopers during the closing credit crawl.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Dec 14, 2023

I loved the dynamic between the parents and children in this film. Spending time with a loving Black family dealing with Christmas magic and whimsy is refreshing.

| Original Score: 3 out of 5 | Dec 13, 2023

A film that packs one too many creative ideas inside its zany wrapping paper, but also one that delivers an enjoyable cast if you’re looking for a family-friendly option by the fireplace.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Dec 10, 2023

Fast-paced, inventive, and amusing, this film is a memorable holiday-themed movie.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 9, 2023

For a movie that’s nearly two hours long, that much unfunny is a lot to endure. Candy Cane Lane is about as funny as a Walmart Black Friday riot, with about as much Christmas cheer.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Dec 8, 2023

In 17 years of writing about movies, Candy Cane Lane stands out one of the more baffling experiences I've had.

| Original Score: D | Dec 8, 2023