Movie: The Nativity Story

I opted to rent this one now rather than wait for the holidays since it will probably be unavailable around that time as people rewatch this solid movie about the birth of Jesus Christ.

It’s a plot that even non-Christians know: the story of how Mary immaculately conceived a child and gave birth to that child in a manger, fulfilling prophecy and changing the world forever.

In every way, I thought this movie was well done. The acting was superb (how wonderful Keisha Castle-Hughes was as Mary), the writing well done (if restrained), and the cinematography quite nice. And Ciaran Hinds is hot. The only bits I didn’t like involved the three wise men making their way to Bethlehem to see the child. The attempts at humor with these men rang false to me – made even moreso by the music that accompanied these “funny” bits. It was more annoying that humorous.

But that’s the only negative to this family-friendly movie.

4 stars out of five (c’mon – it’s the ONE movie where having stars as the guide makes sense!!!)