THE NATIVITY STORY (2006)

THE NATIVITY STORY (2006)

Tagline: A message foretold in the heavens...A prophecy that would threaten an empire...A miracle that would change the world...This Christmas...Experience the most timeless of stories

(Faith, Drama, Family) [PG]

There is a will for this child greater than my fear of what they may do.

This one is about the birth of Jesus Christ and covers all of the political and social impacts of the prophecy of His birth, by focusing on the lives of Mary and Joseph as they come to terms with what is about to happen. 

So in about 2004 when THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST came out, we got a really solid Christian film. In my head, I was thinking, finally, we got a standard for faith-based films that everyone else will start to follow. Unfortunately, that didn’t really happen as I mentioned in my THE MOST RELUCTANT CONVERT review, but there are some exceptions and this is one of those exceptions. We also get great production in RISEN and PAUL, APOSTLE OF CHRIST in case you are looking for faith-based film efforts where quality was at the forefront. RISEN is less biblically accurate but the respect for the source material is incredible. 

Several of the actors and actresses in this movie are very well known now, but when this came out Keisha Castle-Hughes had only been in 3 other films. One of which was STAR WARS: EPISODE III – REVENGE OF THE SITH. She plays Mary in this and does an outstanding job. We also get Oscar Isaac in this as Joseph and given some of his other more sinister roles, this stands out as one of his better efforts because I am guessing he really isn’t anything like the real Joseph personality-wise. Of course from scripture that would have been hard to tell anyway outside of Joseph’s actions. Oscar Isaac in a twist of fate also has a STAR WARS connection being in every movie of the newer trilogy that started in 2015, as does Alexander Siddig who plays the angel Gabriel in this but is also the voice of  Senator Avi Singh in STAR WARS: THE BAD BATCH TV show. Other solid performances came from Shohreh Aghdashloo (best known for STAR TREK BEYOND), Ciarán Hinds (who played Herod and is best known for being the voice of Steppenwolf in ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE). 

Not only was the acting incredible the lighting, cinematography, and score were pretty close to perfect. I honestly have no idea if any actual Christians were even involved in making this movie, but the careful attention to detail is outstanding. Not only to the original truth of the story of the birth of Jesus Christ but to the tools of and look of the time period. I guess if you are being super nitpicky, there are some historically inaccurate things in this movie, but it’s definitely not enough to throw off the message. 

To date, this is the best actual “Christmas” movie ever made that is actually about the truth of Christmas. Not my truth, the actual TRUTH of God and history. If you are looking for something for your family to watch that is both inspiring and captures the majesty of the Christmas season, look no further. I was in tears for most of this thing just out of the sheer joy it brought me. It’s a movie all should run to see and it’s kind of a shame that this movie didn’t do better at the box office than it did. The rating on rotten tomatoes is total garbage. 

For me, this was an easy 7 out of 7 and I don’t just give that rating because the movie was a faithful adaptation to the scriptures. I give that rating because this is a cinematic achievement worth your time. When I walked into this thing I was expecting a decent movie given those involved, but something that wasn't nearly on par with the depth of the film we got. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF NEW LINE CINEMA AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

Please check out the link below by clicking on the picture. Because no one should die buttonless.