Nativity! Review

4th December 2012

From Robert Mann.

Nativity! is a much more cheerful piece of festive cinema. In theory this is a film that always sounded like it has the potential to be a delightful Christmas treat, as the cast is made up of a who’s who of big British comic talent and the idea at its heart certain has the promise for an enjoyable, if lightweight, family comedy. However, the presence of director Debbie Isitt, whose last filmConfetti was extremely mediocre and who takes a very improvisational approach to her films, has been less encouraging. Thus, going into the film my expectations were pretty low and consequently I was very pleasantly surprised by what I saw.

Ever since he was dumped at Christmas, primary school teacher Mr Maddens (Martin Freeman) has hated all things festive. In happier days he studied drama with Jennifer (Ashley Jensen) and Gordon (Jason Watkins). Now Jennifer has a new life in Hollywood while arrogant Gordon teaches at the posh school down the road. Maddens’ heart sinks when he’s assigned to direct the school nativity play. His previous effort was viciously slated by the local drama critic (Alan Carr), while Gordon’s productions always get five stars. However, Maddens’ new classroom assistant, Mr Poppy (Mark Wootton), is beside himself with excitement and has big ideas for a Christmas spectacular. And when Maddens idly boasts to Gordon that his play has – via Jennifer – attracted the attention of Hollywood, the whole town gets caught up in showbiz madness!

Nativity! is not one of the best Christmas movies or one of the best British comedies ever made. In fact, it doesn’t even come close to being either. What it is, however, is a very enjoyable film that will fill you with festive cheer, something that this year’s other Christmas didn’t do such a good job of. I will start by saying what is bad about the film. For the price of a cinema ticket you would expect to see something quite cinematic. However, by and large the quality of the film is much more akin to that of a television special, the kind of thing that you would expect to see for free in the comfort of your home, not have to pay to see at a cinema. This isn’t to say that the film isn’t good but it does lack the feel of a proper movie. This is something that is also evident in the quality of the performances with the ensemble of big British stars (which also includes Pam Ferris and Ricky Tomlinson) being distinctly unimpressive, simply being average, and far from their best.

While fairly amusing, they all fail to provide much that is really funny and this is a pretty big problem in a film that is supposed to be a comedy. However, while the adult stars fail to stand out in any way the kids are a completely different story. The children seen in the film are what really worth seeing, particularly when the film really kicks into gear with the actual performance of the play at the film’s climax, a performance that really is quite spectacular. The kids are cute and many of them show genuine talent and it is them who really steal the show. What they bring to the film is a sense of charm and warmth, something that is perhaps missing in the performances of the adult actors, and they provide a finale which really does make the film worth seeing, even through the parts where it does drag a little. So, while Nativity! is never going to be considered a Christmas classic, it is definitely a film that will leave you in a very festive mood.

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