In film criticism, nothing is sacred. And ""The Nativity Story,"" which presents the Biblical account of Jesus' birth, makes some poor artistic decisions.
The worst is the presentation of the three wise men. Intended as semi-comical figures, they deliver many lame one-liners. This exercise in misplaced cuteness should not have made it past test screenings. It's also true that scenes are photographed without much grace. King Herod's slaughter of the infants has been blurred to near-incomprehensible confusion to satisfy the PG audience.
But ""The Nativity Story"" gets a lot more right than it gets wrong. Its smartest decision is depicting Mary, the mother of Jesus, as a teenage girl. Scholarship cannot calculate Mary's age for certain, but the suggestion of youth is often made for a practical historical reason: In the overtaxed Roman Empire, it was common for girls to marry young. But even absent historical reliability, this depiction of Mary might be worthwhile. The film's great strength is its depiction of Mary's vulnerability; what better way to show this than through the eyes of a scared, burdened girl? Viewers may be unaware how dangerous Mary's unplanned pregnancy (no matter its origin) was; in her case, death by stoning was a true threat.
Indeed, Keisha Castle-Hughes gives a dynamic performance as Mary. Her work is beautifully nuanced, giving attention to the joys and fears of Mary's pregnancy. Even better is Shohreh Aghdashloo, as Elizabeth (John the Baptist's mother). In Elizabeth, Mary finds an ally in her struggle for divine courage. Their moments together give a powerful picture of the interplay between serious religious faith and joyful happiness, and the little-known Oscar Isaac, as Joseph, also does an impressive job. ""The Nativity Story"" injects more humanity into Joseph than the Gospels do, and Isaac welcomes the opportunity for his character.
Perhaps the most satisfying element of ""The Nativity Story"" is its quiet, convincing depiction of a spiritual world. There is no cataclysmic moment when Jesus is divinely conceived; Mary receives a vision, and her pregnancy is assumed without dramatic flourishes. Neither are Mary's and Joseph's visions loud and obnoxious; they are spontaneous, unthreatening and beautiful. There is barely a trace of Cecil B. DeMille to be found here.
Altogether, ""The Nativity Story"" is pretty straightforward. It won't win awards, nor does it desire to. If the filmmakers had wanted to make the Great American Bible Epic, they would have failed. Yet there's something quietly wonderful about it. It does what it does, and it cares. Its simple presentation resists criticism. In no way does it rely on religious bias for its effectiveness. If Heaven and Hell exist, and Jesus determines eternal destiny, ""The Nativity Story"" has its priorities elsewhere. It's a human story about a spiritual event.
And if the film is simplistic, that's because the Gospels are as well. It's worth reminding oneself that the simplest stories, furthest removed from artistic pretension, have an uncanny knack for blazing trails across millennia. When the Greatest Story Ever Told is there on the screen, is it really worth picking apart performances or complaining about the cinematography? There's bound to be a review of ""The Nativity Story"" brimming with the post-modern excesses of Madison liberalism, unwilling to acknowledge in any form the power of the world's most influential narrative. This review is not it.
