Debbie Isitt

We were getting annoyed and irritated by the first hour or so of this film, which was not humorous and made little sense. Then we become rather confused when the scene kept switching from the competition - already getting started, in the evening - to the class, staggering across rough ground, up steep hills, down ropes, accompanied by a baby and a donkey… in broad daylight. Without any food or drink, as far as we could see, wearing their costumes, but not getting dirty.

We very much enjoyed David Tennant playing a dual role superbly; we also quite liked the other choirs singing and dancing (although some of the implications of lyrics were not 'U' rated in my view).We also liked the unexpectedly warm (if schmalzy and clichéd) ending that brought the real meaning of Christmas back into focus, albeit briefly.

But I'd rather have re-watched the original; this one is a poor imitation and I wouldn't really recommend it.… (altro)

Thoroughly enjoyable schmalzy comedy for all the family at Christmas. Martin Freeman is brilliant as the uptight but heartbroken Paul Maddens, a primary school teacher. His head allocates him as director of the school's Nativity play, and gives him a new and rather juvenile classroom assistant, Mr Poppy.

All slightly surreal, although the children are a delight- not stage-trained but ordinary children who produce a wonderful pageant at the end. Apparently the film was not scripted, so there's a lot of improvisation - and it works brilliantly.

Definitely recommended for the whole family if you want an enjoyable Christmas film which has an important message not just about the real meaning of Christmas, but about the potential disasters that can arise from telling lies.

Longer review here: https://suesdvdreviews.blogspot.com/2021/12/nativity-martin-freeman.html… (altro)