- Woot, Joseph is a real catch. The guy who played him was really good and he was really able to convey his confusion towards his wife’s other-worldly impregnation but also his rather merciful acceptance of her. Very, very good.
- Mary was sort of a non-event, which was odd. I mean, she and Joseph are sort of OTP (heh), but for someone who is basically a child when she gets engaged to a man she barely knows and then gets knocked up by the Holy Spirit only to face possible death by stoning, she’s rather non-plussed about it all. I mean I get the whole “Mary full of grace” thing, but I’m sorry, when you’re a fourteen year-old girl this would have had to be positively frightening. And when the Gabriel visits her and tells her she’ll be carrying the Son of God, she’s sort of like “Meh, okay.” No “OMGWTFBBQ ANGEL?!” No “I’M IN YR GOOD BOOK, CARRYIN’ YR SAVIOUR”. No real reaction whatsoever. I mean, I thought The Last Temptation of Christ was supposed to have paved the way for more human depictions of these particular characters. I guess not.
Harvey Keitel, where art thou? - DR. BASHIR FROM DEEP SPACE NINE IS GABRIEL. WIN.
- The three wisemen were complete and utter TWITS. Melchior is secretly Joe Pesci and Balthazar is this gluttonous fool who almost declines making the trip to Bethlehem because he’ll miss his favourite foods. Melchior is like “Dude, you can bring an extra camel for your dates and your spices” and Balthazar is like “SWEET.” SO DUMB. Gaspar is a bit of a diva and refuses to go with them, until of course he catches up a couple of days later and says “Dudes, you forgot your map. What the hell would you do without me?” and general OT3 bonding occurs. It’s pretty hysterical when Herod later plays them like cheap violins and gets them to spill all their secrets about where they’re going and why. At least they have the good sense not to go back afterwards.
- I pretty much hope I never have to travel through the desert on a camel.
- Gene Seymour at Newsday.com pretty much summed up my feelings of “meh” on this one best:
The intent seems to be to release a movie about the Nativity that can be shown in living rooms and church schools for at least the next decade. If that’s really all that was wanted or needed from “The Nativity Story,” the result could have been a lot worse. But keep in mind: The events it depicts inspired Handel’s “Messiah.”
This movie is not the stuff inspiration is made of.
The Nativity Story
I was spoiled for this movie by some two-thousand year-old book.
IMDB Plot Synopsis A drama that focuses on the period in Mary and Joseph's life where they journeyed to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus.