#MiddleburyCT #Movies
“Candy Cane Lane” (PG) – In this holiday film starring Eddie Murphy and Tracee Ellis Ross, a group of neighbors face off to see whose home has the best Christmas decorations. Chris (Murphy) will stop at nothing to win, so while he’s out shopping for decor, he can’t help but take Pepper (Jillian Bell), an elfish shop owner, up on her offer to use magic to pull off the victory. Little does Chris know that he signed his life away for Pepper’s spell, and if his family doesn’t get Pepper to reverse her spell, he’ll get turned into a Christmas trinket for the rest of his life. Nick Offerman (“The Last of Us”) and D.C. Young Fly (“Almost Christmas”) also star in this Christmas comedy fit for the whole family, out now. (Amazon Prime Video)
Mark Wahlberg, left, and Michelle Monaghan star in “The Family Plan.” (AppleTV+)
“The Family Plan” (PG-13) – Out on streaming Dec. 15, this action-comedy is a film that’s suitable for parents to view with kids who are on the older side. Mark Wahlberg (who claims to be contemplating retirement but has three upcoming films on his roster) stars as Dan, an ordinary family man who keeps his assassin past under wraps from his wife and children. After his enemy tracks his whereabouts and attempts to kill him while he’s on a grocery store run, Dan convinces his family to go on a “family road trip” to Las Vegas so that he can confront the man who’s hunting him. Michelle Monaghan (“Mission: Impossible – Fallout”) and Said Taghmaoui (“John Wick: Chapter 3”) co-star. (Apple TV+)
“Pain Hustlers” (R) – David Yates, director of the last four “Harry Potter” films and the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise, moved away from his usual fantasy genre to make a crime drama, and it suited him well. Made up of a witty cast with Emily Blunt, Chris Evans and Andy Garcia, “Pain Hustlers,” out now, follows single mother Liza Drake (Blunt). After struggling and being forced to move into a motel with her daughter, Liza takes up an offer to work at a small pharmaceutical company to get a doctor to prescribe the drug Lonafen. The ever-resourceful Liza knows she can pull it off, but will she be able to shove down the ugly truth behind this highly addictive drug just for a paycheck? (Netflix)
“The Retirement Plan” (R) – After a life of crime, a retired assassin named Matt (Nicolas Cage) lives a comfortable life as a beach bum in the Cayman Islands. But when his estranged granddaughter, Sarah, shows up on his sandy doorstep, his sweet retirement comes to an abrupt pause. Sent by her mother, Ashley, with an important hard drive on her person, Sarah is forced to remain under Matt’s protection while her parents try to outrun the criminals who so desperately want to get their hands on the hard drive. A booked-and-busy Ron Perlman supplies entertaining moments, and Ashley Greene Khoury, who has mainly been in smaller films since the “Twilight” franchise, is a welcome sight to see. Out on Dec. 15. (Hulu)
© 2023 King Features Synd., Inc.
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