movie minute

Story of the Birth: If you know the story of the birth of Jesus, this film won't hold many surprises for you, if any at all. Keisha Castle-Hughes plays Mary, the young virgin who is visited by an angel to tell her she will deliver a son who will save his people. A son for all people; from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs, or something like that. The film, The Nativity Story (PG), follows her as she shares her pregnancy with Elizabeth, played here by the wonderful and ubiquitous Shohreh Aghdashloo to her travels to Bethlehem with her new husband Joseph and the subsequent deliverance of the above mentioned son. Throw in the witty three wise men and some evil men, one in particular named Herod, and you've got yourself an epic. Or so it would seem. This film, which is based on the writings in Luke and Matthew, is surprisingly ho-hum; especially the first 35mins. I did know the story, more or less, so that may have had something to do with it or maybe it was because Hughes plays Mary as slightly more alive than a zombie. Actually I think a zombie does show more life. Hughes was so exciting and moving in the terrific film Whale Rider, so why is she so catatonic here? Catherine Hardwicke (director of Thirteen) must have had Hughes direct herself. One nice surprise here is actor Oscar Isaac. His Joseph is a winsome, touching and tortured man. At first he cannot accept that he did not sire the baby and he must deal with how that will look but, ultimately, his honor and love for Mary lead him down the path of family man.

It's not a terrible film and it holds the attention much more than The DaVinci Code did earlier this year but for a film about a bible story one would think it would be much more captivating.

Bags of popcorn (out of 5): 2.5

possible Oscar noms

Best Actress
Best Director
Best Original Screenplay (or would that be Adapted?????)

paul