The Nativity Story             Review by Wayne Clarke

The Nativity Story is more evidence that family films and films based on the Bible are back at the top of Hollywood’s agenda.

This new Biblical epic begins with Elizabeth and Zechariah’s miraculous gift of a child and them moves to Nazareth where a young girl called Mary (played by Oscar-nominated Keisha Castle-Hughes) is visited by a mysterious stranger.

From there the familiar story is played out, with remarkable faithfulness to the Bible, while filling out intriguing details about the main characters, including some comic interludes from the Wise Men.

Some aspects of the film did jar with me, particularly the way modern Christmas carols appear in the film’s soundtrack, and the remarkable brightness of the Bethlehem star, which is not how the Bible describes it. These do not detract from the emotional impact of the film, or its ability to re-create real life in first-century Israel.