In today’s issue of The New York Times, A.O. Scott remarks:
It’s best to think of “The Nativity Story” as a Hollywood version of the kind of Christmas production some of the “Peanuts” kids put on in “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” This is not meant as a criticism. Quite the contrary.Directed by Catherine Hardwicke from a script by Mike Rich, “The Nativity Story” sticks to the familiar details of the narrative and dramatizes them with sincerity and good taste. There are no flights of actorly or cinematic bravura — though all of the performances are credible, and some better than that — and very few big, showy, epic gestures. Rather than trying to reinterpret or modernize a well-known, cherished story, the filmmakers have rendered it with a quiet, unassuming professionalism.
I managed to see this film two weeks ago as part of a sneak-peek showing for seminary students in our area. I must admit that many movies on biblical stories tend to fall in two categories: (1) They are sickeningly sappy and hokey, or (2) the producers try to “sex up” the biblical account and betray the actual storyline itself. The Nativity Story manages to do the difficult work of threading the needle between the two extremes. The story remains faithful to the Bible’s account while adding an appropriate amount of poetic license in illustrating the emotional struggles that all of these characters may have experienced. The film is elegant, earthy, funny, and heartwrenching. It is a movie that is appropriate for children to see, but adults will not find it childish or simplistic.
I highly recommend this film. For more in depth commentary, please read Dr. Albert Mohler’s review here.
