Candy Cane Candidate

Watching Lifetime Holiday movies is like watching stereotyped interviews of beauty pageants contestants. After the tenth one running on the "World Peace" platform, you realize they all are empty-headed morons.

What happened to real wit, humor, and feelings? And, by the way, what happened to Christmas values and spirit?

Opponents in an election is not the most common Christmas movie premise. Other than that, this movie covers a multitude of other common tropes. Even the potential job far away is part of the usual formula. The two leads frequently rehash their high school days. The conflict and climax are a bit unusual. What no broken pipes?

I didn't like Julia for most of the movie. She softens a bit in the second half, but in the first half she has a huge chip on her shoulder and seems to be constantly picking a fight, not just with Parker. Parker on the other hand is almost totally positive. Jacky Lai and Jake Epstein have chemistry mostly thanks to Epstein. They occasionally have some nice banter.

The movie is pretty heavy with liberal political themes. There is a secondary romance with two high school boys who kiss. Julia is constantly pushing green themes. I didn't notice any racial issues other than the fact Julia is Asian.

Some issues of relatively low significance: What's with several slow-mo's of people walking down stairs? And then there are the messages that someone with poor eyes, or a small screen can't read.

I really enjoy some of the hall mark Christmas movies

And after watching a couple of these life Christmas things it made me realize one of the things i like about hall mark stuff is they don't go over the top pushing a political agenda

This script to this movie is so blah that it doesn't even begin to disguise the political over tones

Considering that Asians have started being brutally physically attacked in this country in some areas by the very platform this movie is scaffolding, it makes it doubly disgusting.

Whenever I'm watching these types of movies, I willingly accept a suspension of disbelief, because it's a movie, not a documentary. At the same time, I expect some level of plausibility. Julia has just lost an election for Boston City Council (appears to have been a special election) and returns to her hometown on the other side of the state to think about her future (run again or work for the green company, both worthy choices). Nevertheless, I have no idea how Julia can consider a run for mayor of her hometown, considering that she's a non-resident who may or may not have filed any papers in an off-camera moment. I'm also thinking that there's no way an outgoing mayor can arbitrarily change an election date to suit her personal schedule - don't they have a city charter that covers things like special elections and what happens if the mayor dies or resigns? Election irregularities like this could put them all in jail. These problems could have been resolved by some handwaving on part of the writers. For example, having the city solicitor say that he/she has checked the charter and that special elections have some flexibility around residency and election requirements would preserve that suspension of disbelief.

Am not terribly familiar with either of the two leads, but it is always good once in a while to not have Lifetime regulars/favourites. Lifetime have done many films over the years that have been worth watching, the best of them surprisingly very well done, though they have also done a number of duds. Was a bit ehh overall on their 2021 output, it could have been worse considering the circumstances but few films stood out if this viewer was to be honest.

'Candy Cane Candidate' was another film to not stand out that much. It has its moments and actually did have an intriguing concept, not everyday we have Christmas and politics mixed together on screen, it just could and should have executed it more consistently. It is not one of their worst films from 2021 and Lifetime have certainly done far worse overall, but also not one of the best on both counts. It is certainly tolerable and has good things, but 'Candy Cane Candidate' also struck me as rather average with some real debits.

There are good things here. Jacky Lai has a good deal of charm and perkiness once she settles into her role and the role becomes better written. Better is Jake Epstein, whose character writing is a lot more consistent and likeable and it was easy to endear to his subtle charisma and easy going-ness. They had some nice witty chemistry later on. The supporting cast do a more than competent job with what they are given to work with, which isn't great.

It's a nice looking film. Loved the scenery especially, regardless of any authenticity being called into question there is a festive look to it and it looks picturesque. Personally thought the photography, while never extraordinary, complemented it nicely, not overblown while not basic either. The music is a nice enough fit and is pleasant music on its own, it doesn't make as much of a mistake as other Christmas films of being used too constantly or being too loud.

However, 'Candy Cane Candidate' is not perfect by any stretch. It was not easy to get into at first, with a slow start to the plot and some very awkward dialogue. Also found Lai's character too overly arrogant and confrontational and often not deserved, and it took a while for the hostility in the banter to tone down and the chemistry to generate much spark. Pretty much throughout, the story is very predictable and could have been a lot tighter.

More flawed is the writing, with the banter to begin with being more overly hostile than playful, the schmaltz becoming too sugary sweet and the politics being at times intriguing but also at other times rather heavy handed which creates a bit too much of a disjoint in tone. The ending is too pat and somewhat rushed too.

Overall, watchable but very average. 5/10.