'The Nativity Story' with Keisha Castle-Hughes

December 2nd, 2006

Los Angeles, CA - The Nativity Story is certainly not a classic but a reverent retelling of the birth of Jesus that should satisfy viewers who mourn the secularization of Christmas.

Far from a magical version of the story of Christ's birth, it is unlikely to inspire the ardent following among Christians that The Passion of the Christ did. And while there is unquestionably an audience for this film, Nativity is not bound to become a holiday classic.

While focusing on Mary (Whale Rider's Keisha Castle-Hughes) and Joseph (Oscar Isaac) is an intriguing idea, this retelling doesn't offer much insight into her character.

The angel Gabriel (Syriana's Alexander Siddig) informs Mary that she is to be the mother of Jesus, but Castle-Hughes plays Mary as one-dimensionally as a student in a school Christmas pageant might. It can't be easy for a teenage actress to take on such a lofty role, but Castle-Hughes seems to have lacked critical input from director Catherine Hardwicke.

Hardwicke has taken a fascinating topic and presented it at a glacial pace and without much of the insight she showed in previous films, like Thirteen. The movie just feels dreary. Though it has an authentic look, it fails to engage our hearts and minds.

As for our souls, that's a more complicated matter. This version seems fairly faithful to the biblical narrative, with two striking exceptions: the wrongheaded decision to turn the Magi into comic foils and having Mary react as a contemporary young woman would to the notion of an arranged marriage.

She is depicted as being about 13 and initially resistant to marrying Joseph, as she barely knows him. Though her behavior may seem understandable to modern audiences, it seems out of step with the rest of the film's adherence to the traditional story. Weren't arranged marriages common in those times?

Castle-Hughes has some of her best scenes with Shohreh Aghdashloo (House of Sand and Fog), who plays her cousin Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist.

Their respective pregnancies are miraculous - Mary's because it is the immaculate conception and Elizabeth's because she is beyond child-bearing age.

The multi-ethnic casting is a nice touch: Castle-Hughes is from New Zealand, Isaac is Guatemalan, Aghdashloo is Iranian and Siddig is Sudanese.