MovieGuideÒ on The Nativity Story
by Dr. Ted Baehr
November 14, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Following are information and comments from Christian movie reviewer Dr. Ted Baehr on the upcoming New Line Cinema movie The Nativity Story, which open in theaters on December 8. More details about this film and others are available at Dr. Baehr's website, MovieGuide.org. | | 
Mary, played by Keisha Castle-Hughes, and Joseph, played by Oscar Isaac, flee the wrath of King Herod by escaping to Egypt with Baby Jesus |
TITLE: THE NATIVITY STORY
Genre: Biblical epic
Intended audience: All ages
Quality*: 4 stars
Acceptability**: EXEMPLARY: Biblical, usually Christian, worldview, with no questionable elements whatsoever VIEWER WARNINGS:
Language: None
Violence: Brief or action violence
Sex: None
Nudity: None
The Nativity Story is one of those very rare movies that brings the Gospel alive in a compelling, soul-stirring, entertaining, and inspiring manner that shatters expectations. It is a sacred movie and a divine revelation in the best sense of these words. It is a human story with depth and breadth and height and all the right elements to capture the audience.
The movie opens by quoting Jeremiah 23:5-6: "'The days are coming,'" declares the LORD, ‘when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.'" The rest of the movie references and quotes Scripture throughout.
The intensely paranoid King Herod sends out the troops to kill all the innocents in Bethlehem and stop the prophecy that there will be born a King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Herod is intensely superstitious and played brilliantly. Thus, this movie starts, as it should, with a bang. It then flashes back to a year earlier in the town of Nazareth, showing a brief moment of tranquility in the life of Mary and Joseph.
Suddenly, the Roman troops are upon the village demanding tribute for Caesar. Mary's father loses part of his land and his donkey. Joseph the carpenter buys the donkey back from a greedy soldier and gives it back to the father, asking for Mary's hand in marriage. Mary protests a little, but she is betrothed and must spend a year before they consummate the marriage.
Soon, an angel of God comes to Mary to tell her that she is with God's child, born by the Holy Spirit. She goes to see her cousin Elizabeth, who in her older age is also with child. (A previous scene shows Elizabeth's husband, the priest Zechariah, entering the temple and being struck mute when he doubts the word of the angel that Elizabeth had become pregnant.) When Mary returns to Nazareth, it is clear that Mary is pregnant. Joseph is devastated but decides to continue with the marriage after an angel appears to him in a dream. At the same time, the magi in Babylon are preparing to follow a unique astrological sign, which forms a brief new star that will lead them to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Meanwhile, Joseph and Mary have to journey to Bethlehem to register for the Roman census, and the prophecies of God are fulfilled.
The Nativity Story has one of the best scripts ever for a biblical story. What makes a movie compelling is a sense of jeopardy, and that sense of jeopardy is present throughout this movie. The dialogue, the plot development, the turning points are refreshingly dramatic, so good in fact that they will elicit tears at certain points. The Nativity Story is compelling drama that carefully avoids gruesome, graphic violence. Even the slaughtering of the ox at the temple does not show the blade entering the animal, yet it causes the audience to wince.
Catherine Hardwicke's direction is superb. Joseph and Mary are very human, very Jewish and very much in love. Each character has a terrific character arc. Probably the best part of the movie is the costuming and the settings. Having spent some time in Israel researching other movies, I can attest to the authenticity of even the smallest details of life in Israel in the first century. The crucifixions, the agriculture, the ephods, everything is done exquisitely. There is one moment where Mary has an attitude, but it is very brief and natural. A later statement, however, declares that Mary is always trustworthy, that she keeps her promises and therefore she is honored by God. Her complexities add depth to her character and make the story of Mary and Joseph more profound.
The Nativity Story is a nearly perfect movie. It should be a movie that every Christian would want to see. It is certainly a movie that every Non-Christian should see. It testifies in every way to Jesus the Messiah and is clearly and consciously evangelistic. Such statements that this baby is the "greatest King" and "God made flesh," that the gold is for the King of the world, that the frankincense is for the greatest priest of all, and that the myrrh is to honor the sacrifice, and many, many more pointedly proclaim the story of the Christ and the great news that there is salvation in none other.
CONTENT OVERVIEW: Very strong Christian worldview with very strong moral content; no foul language; light violence with very little blood includes people beaten and whipped by Romans, people on crucifixes by the side of the road, sanitized depictions of the slaughter of the innocents by King Herod, crucifixion of rebels, pushing, and shoving, but nothing exploitive; no sex but hugging, light kissing and two childbirths, nothing shown but very intense; no nudity; passing a cup of wine; and, nothing else objectionable.
RATING: G
RELEASE: December 8, 2006
STARRING: Keisha Castle-Hughes, Oscar Isaac Guerrilla, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Eriq Ebouaney, and Ciarán Hinds
DIRECTOR: Catherine Hardwicke
WRITER: Mike Rich (read exclusive AgapePress interview)
DISTRIBUTOR: New Line Cinema
* "Quality Rating" refers to the production values in the movie, the entertainment quality of the production, and whether the movie fulfills what it tries to do. A four-star rating does not guarantee that the movie will meet MovieGuide's criteria for what makes a truly fine, much less great, work of art. That kind of criteria depends a lot on one's moral and spiritual values, issues that Acceptability Ratings (explained below) are meant to address.
** "Acceptability Rating" is based on a traditional view of the Bible and Christianity. Some movies receive positive ratings because they fit a biblical worldview of ethical monotheism, even though there is little specific Christian content in them. Acceptability Ratings take into account cognitive stages of development, moral issues and theological issues; and help parents with children and the media-wise adult viewer.
