Starring: Judy Greer, Pete Holmes and Molly Belle Wright
Directed by: Dallas Jenkins
Rated: PG
Running Time: 99 minutes
Lionsgate
Film Score: 3 out of 5 Stars
Blu-Ray Score: 4 out of 5 Stars
Surface level. Cheesy. Goofy. Just a few things I’ve said about bad films in the past. But during Christmas, it’s different. Christmas is the time of year when people willingly watch movies that would be unwatchable any other time of year. You don’t bust out the hot cocoa on a muggy July day. You do it when it’s cold. You do it when there’s snow in the forecast. You do it when your home has the twinkle of holiday lights. Enter “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.”
Based on a book I never read or had read to me, the film follows Beth Bradley (Molly Belle Wright as the young version, Lauren Graham as the older narrator) as she reflects on a chaotic Christmas in the 1970s. Her mother Grace (Judy Greer) gets roped into directing the town’s 75th Christmas pageant for the first time ever. Also, for the first time ever, the Herdmans get in the Christmas spirit.
The Herdmans are a ragtag group of six siblings with a runaway dad, an absent mom, and reputations as the town’s most feared juvenile delinquents. They bully, steal, punch people in the face, and force their way into the pageant. Residents are getting ready to clutch their pearls, but the Herdmans may not be giving them a lump of coal. If you’ve ever seen a Christmas movie, you know exactly where this is headed.
I watched this in October while my wife was already decking the halls and wrapping presents. So, sure, maybe I was adjacent to the Christmas spirit. Maybe that’s why I didn’t outright reject the movie, even as it made me roll my eyes. I may have even wanted cocoa while watching.
There’s charm here. Greer is always great, and the child actors fully embrace their roles as miniature chaos agents on a redemption arc. That arc, along with the film’s overt Christian themes, walks a fine line between sweet and Sunday school sermon. At times, it feels like you’re being bludgeoned by a moral lesson about how the Bible fixes everything, but at least it’s core message is a decent one: the idea of welcoming outsiders, no matter how rough around the edges, because that’s what Christ would’ve done.
“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” is fine if you grew up with the book or want a little more Jesus in your Christmas lineup. If not, there’s probably more comfort (and less preachiness) in your average Hallmark rom-com. The movie has its heart in the right place, but it just doesn’t quite know what to say without mixing in a sermon.
Blu-Ray Features
Audio Commentary with Director Dallas Jenkins and Producer Kevin Downes
Herding the Kids: This feature shows what it’s like to try and wrangle multiple children on set.
Director’s Diary: This is a good complimentary feature to the commentary.
All About the Pageantry: Creating the Look: A mild look at creating the film’s background and set.
Legacy of the Christmas Pageant: Cast and crew talk about their own Christmas pageants.
The Least of These: Another complimentary director feature in which Jenkins talks about how he learned about the story.
Bloopers
Deleted Scenes
Theatrical Trailer
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