It's the indispensable Judy Greer who hoists this project on her back and carries it.
There’s no shortage of seasonal films that claim to extol “the true meaning of Christmas,” and this year, the holiday comes early with Dallas Jenkins’ “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” based on the 1972 novel by Barbara Robinson. But whether or not you’ll be excited to receive this one under the tree may depend on your tolerance for precocious kiddos and faith-based stories that come wrapped up as wacky family comedies.
Jenkins reserves the adult Beth for a reveal at the very end, though the film would have been served by an opening bookend — the script is heavy on voice-over, but there’s a lack of connection with who’s doing the talking. It feels like a very generic book adaptation with a celebrity narrator, when Graham’s Beth could have had a stronger presence in the film for connection to contemporary times, and a reason why we should take heed of this retro fable.
The rebellious Herdmans, led by the flame-haired eldest sibling Imogene , are known as a smoking, stealing, generally chaos-raising bunch. They intimidate their way into the lead roles, and bring a fresh perspective to the material. And while everyone at the church turns up their noses at the Herdmans, it’s plainly obvious the kids are suffering from neglect.
The film itself is a fairly slight story, gussied up in period costuming and hair. The rest of the retro aesthetic is achieved with a desaturated color palette that is not well served by digital photography and dim lighting. Jenkins’ direction is serviceable at best, and the style is drab rather than nostalgically worn.
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