Movie Review:

THE NATIVITY STORY

December 1, 2006

What would you do if someone gave you $20 million for your church’s Christmas pageant? After seeing The Nativity Story last night

I think most churches would have produced this exact movie—it is a typical local church Christmas pageant.

The Nativity Story is Disney’s entry into the Passion of the Christ sweepstakes, intending to capture a chunk of change from the Christian’s pocket. They recruited director Catherine Hardwick, known for her aerosol-sniffing skateboarder films on adolescence to do the story. She cast a real 16 year old pregnant-outside-of-marriage actor to play Mary and all the actors in this film appear more like Semitic people than white heroes planted among darker skin Semites.

I liked the film—it is worth the entry fee I paid along with several hundred other middle aged folks at the premier. Hardwick did nothing radical with the story. If anything the films as predictable as a Christmas postcard—right down to starlight beaming into the cave-like stable and the Wise men visiting at the same time as the shepherds. The screen writer put all kinds of good theology into the mouths of the Magi, right down to affirming the child as the son of God and uttering an exposition on the meaning of the gold, frankincense and myrrh. In short—it is a local church Christmas pageant more than a movie.

To the film’s credit it shows how Joseph may have fallen in love with Mary and her (eventual) return of love to this “good man” while making sure Catholics will not be offended by anything happening between them more than hand-holding. As for action, the TV ads show it all—they cross a swollen river on their way to Bethlehem. Of course there is the slaying of the innocents by Herod’s soldiers, but that is mostly implied so the film keeps its PG rating and is every bit as suitable for small children as any local church pageant. As for Herod, the film does present him as the paranoid murderer he was, though it may stretch how much he was obsessed with a coming Messiah.

For me the strongest part of the film/pageant was the section showing how Mary, her parents, and Joseph may have dealt with her pregnancy. Somehow it had never occurred to me that when Mary went away to Elizabeth’s home she was “not showing” and when she returned months later it would only be rational to conclude she got pregnant in the town 75 miles away. (The film uses “miles” and other modern terms like “falling in love” to help the audience relate to the story). Joseph comes across as a really good (if not too brilliant) man. It properly has him as a “worker with his hands” and not a “Carpenter” as later editions of the Bible improperly termed him. His best line is when he and Mary are pondering the birth of the son of God, he wonders, ‘Will I be able to teach him anything?” which is a wonderful question to ponder even now.

As for the supernatural, the film does not demythologize anything. The angels really appear and the dreams from God are presented as real supernatural events, right down to a glowing angel in the annunciation. The angels always disappear and wind up connected with flying birds as in the Native American religious tradition, but it is not anything to worry about. In fact the film so carefully followed the tradition of a local church Christmas Pageant that there is no challenge anywhere to orthodox theology. Sure, there are historical problems (like placing the Magi at the birth) but churches promote these historical collapsing of two events all the time in their own presentations.

I say go see the film for two reasons. I want Disney to make their 20 Million investment back twice over so they keep making Christian films—they can do orthodoxy and Christian tradition as good as Rick Warren. Second,

It has “moving moments” for believers and reinforces the story we all believe—God becoming flesh on that first Christmas night. I admit the film is not a WOW film, but is a nice quality Christmas card and worth seeing.

For the next few days you are welcome to post your own response to The Nativity Story by clicking here.

Keith Drury December 1, 2006