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Movies / On DVD / The Nativity Story
The Nativity Story

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The Nativity Story (2006)

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Reviews Counted:125

Fresh:47

Rotten:78

Average Rating:5.3/10

Consensus: The Nativity Story is a dull retelling of a well-worn tale with the look and feel of a high-school production.

Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for some violent content.

Runtime: 2 hrs 41 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:08-12-2006

Synopsis: A cinematic journey into the heart of history's greatest story, The Nativity Story is poised to come to the big screen for the first time in a major motion picture event. New Line Cinema's The... A cinematic journey into the heart of history's greatest story, The Nativity Story is poised to come to the big screen for the first time in a major motion picture event. New Line Cinema's The Nativity Story chronicles the arduous journey of two people, Mary and Joseph, a miraculous pregnancy, and the history-defining birth of Jesus. The dramatic and compelling film traces the perilous journey of a young couple who must travel from their home in Nazareth to Bethlehem, Joseph's ancestral home, to register for a census ordered by King Herod. It is a journey of over 100 miles, through treacherous terrain, made much more difficult by the fact that Mary is nine months pregnant. A New Line Cinema Presentation of a Temple Hill Production, The Nativity Story stars Academy Award® nominee Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider) as Mary, Oscar Isaac (upcoming Guerrilla) as Joseph and Academy Award® nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo (House of Sand and Fog) as Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. The international cast also includes Hiam Abbass (Munich, Paradise Now), Shaun Toub (Crash), Alexander Siddig (Syrianna), Nadim Sawalha (Syrianna), Eriq Ebouaney, Stefan Kalipha, Said Amadis, Stanley Townsend and Ciarán Hinds (Munich). The film is directed by Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen, Lords of Dogtown) from a screenplay written by Mike Rich (The Rookie, Finding Forrester). The producers are Wyck Godfrey (I, Robot) and Marty Bowen.The executive producers are Toby Emmerich, Cale Boyter, Tim Van Rellim, Mike Rich and Catherine Hardwicke. The co-executive producers are Judd Funk and Michael Disco. The film also features an outstanding production team which includes cinematographer Elliot Davis (White Oleander, I Am Sam, Out of Sight), Production Designer Stefano Maria Ortolani (Art Director on Gangs of New York and The Talented Mr. Ripley), Film Editors Robert K. Lambert, A.C.E. (Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees, Ask the Dust) and Stuart Levy, A.C.E (Any Given Sunday, Jesus' Son), Costume Designer Maurizio Millenotti (The Passion of the Christ, Tristan and Isolde, Immortal Beloved) and composer Mychael Danna (Little Miss Sunshine, Capote, The Ice Storm). New Line Cinema will release The Nativity Story (rated PG by the M.P.A.A. for "some violent content") in theaters nationwide on December 1st, 2006. -- © New Line Cinema [More]

Starring: Shohreh Aghdashloo, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Eriq Ebouaney, Ciaran Hinds

Starring: Shohreh Aghdashloo, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Eriq Ebouaney, Ciaran Hinds, Alexander Siddig, Shaun Toub, Tim Van Rellim, Oscar Isaac, Stanley Townsend, Star, Stefan Kalipha, Farida Ouchani, Alessando Giugglioli, Said Amadis

Director: Catherine Hardwicke

Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Producer: Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey
Composer: Mychael Danna
Studio: New Line Cinema

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Reviews for The Nativity Story

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81 - 100 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
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A family-friendly Christmas pageant, a Christmas crèche brought to theatrical life.

Full Review Source: Christianity Today | comment Comment
12/01/06
Peter T. Chattaway
Peter T. Chattaway
Christianity Today

It avoids Hallmark greeting-card slickness and Cecil B. DeMille razzmatazz, but replaces them with a plodding earnestness that leaves it largely inoffensive but rather dull.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
12/01/06
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

while the subject matter remains fascinating, the storytelling in director Catherine Hardwicke's film leaves much to be desired. ... reverent almost to a fault, yet its inspirational value is not particularly high.

Full Review Source: Kalamazoo Gazette | comment Comment
12/01/06
James Sanford
James Sanford
Kalamazoo Gazette

Devout Christians are invited to ignore the reviews and enjoy the film. Non-Christians and skeptics ought to be looking elsewhere.

Full Review Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette | comment Comment
12/01/06
Daniel M. Kimmel
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

One of the greatest stories ever told has become one of the year's worst movies.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment 2 Comments
11/30/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

Slavishly reverent, it is accidentally hilarious in its earnestness -- and in its sincere attempts at a touch of humor; it will please believers who don't want their faith tested in the least...

Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment 1 Comment
11/30/06
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher

It's a 'nice' movie, good for Christian families who want to attend a nativity pageant without having to stand outside in the cold.

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
11/30/06
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com

An effective pitch for Christianity as the dullest religion ever.

Full Review Source: Las Vegas Weekly | comment 5 Comments
11/30/06
Josh Bell
Josh Bell
Las Vegas Weekly

lacks a visual stamp... and a point of view

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
11/30/06
David Thomas
David Thomas
Filmcritic.com

Excels when focused on Mary and Joseph, but The Three Wise Men come off more like The Three Stooges.

Full Review Source: WaffleMovies.com | comment Comment
11/30/06
Willie Waffle
Willie Waffle
WaffleMovies.com

Newcomer Oliver Isaac effectively conveys tenderness, doubt, courage, and transcendence as Joseph.

Full Review Source: Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies | comment Comment
11/30/06
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

A thunderously boring film so circumscribed in scope and crippled in execution that it's destined to be a minor hit.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
11/30/06
Walter Chaw
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central

The Nativity Story is no whitewashed Christmas pageant, but it's no masterpiece either.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
11/30/06
Dezhda Gaubert
Dezhda Gaubert
E! Online

Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider) makes an appropriately soulful Mary, and the movie's most engaging scenes involve her mortified parents and mystified husband, Joseph (Oscar Isaac), trying to come to terms with her miraculous pregnancy.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
11/30/06
J. R. Jones
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader

At a time when secular celebrations, including most films, have redefined the holiday as a meaningless and generic act of consumerism, The Nativity Story reclaims its roots as a story of sacrifice and celebration.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
11/30/06
Duane Dudek
Duane Dudek
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

This is not a chance to 'experience the most timeless of stories as you've never seen it before' but just the opposite: an opportunity, for those who want it, to encounter this story exactly the way it's almost always been told.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
11/30/06
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The best of intentions and a 2,000-year-old heartbreaker of a story are not enough to make a compelling film. You need a point of view and something to say.

Full Review Source: Slate | comment Comment
11/30/06
Dana Stevens
Dana Stevens
Slate

... The Nativity Story sticks to the familiar details of the narrative and dramatizes them with sincerity and good taste.

comment Comment
11/30/06
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The Nativity Story becomes the anti-Passion, a movie that makes a statement against violence rather than exploiting it.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
11/30/06
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic

This drab exercise in glum piety slumps where it should soar, sapping the story of its mystery and transcendence with an overriding sense of literality.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment 2 Comments
11/30/06
Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
 
 
81 - 100 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
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