Nativity Rocks!

Words can't explain the fresh Hell I have just experienced watching this movie. Please heed my advice and steer clear. Amateur hour

4 December 2018 First Film of Choice at The Plaza Dorchester Tonight - Nativity Rocks. This is outing number four in the Nativity genre and in this instalment we are introduced to Mr Poppy's brother, Mr Poppy! This time round the city of Coventry is competing to be the city of Christmas by staging a rock opera which is to be directed by Emmanuel Cavendish, played by Craig Revel Horwood, who is overacting his socks off. Stick to the stage darling it's much more your scene. Introduce a large collection of small children singing and dancing, combine it with a group of adults who really shouldn't be in charge of the small children, and you find that slapstick and nonsense abound making this film weaker than its previous instalments. However even though the scenes are all a little tired it is good to have a family film at Christmas that doesn't take too much effort to watch, I'm sure the children will love it. Bring back Mr Poppy, because Mr Poppy really doesn't cut it. I think it may be time to put this particular baby back in its manger.

Pretty painful to watch but I can imagine it appealing to some children as pure pantomime. The acting is generally terrible and the story is quite preposterous.

If you have nothing else to watch and don't need to dedicate more than a few brain cells to this then it's OK but otherwise you'll never feel like you've missed out on not seeing this.

Refugees from Syria; father and son, find sanctuary in the UK's midlands but get separated on the way.

All the elements are here for an uplifting family comedy. There is a great gang of kids, enthusiasm and some good gags. I can forgive the comedy farce elements that were over played for my taste. But the story is too complicated for the time given to it; the threads have been cut to pieces leaving it all in a midland muddle.

The brutal story editing makes sense when we get to the final act to which a lot of the movie time is devoted. We're given a long concert of songs staged in Coventry cathedral. It's really well done and does somewhat redeem the film. Sadly by then the movie had already lost the attention of most of the children in the audience who were fidgeting with boredom.

I liked the references to Coventry's own devastation to bombing in 1939 that made a connection with the young refugee.

Two things: 1) My five-year-old loved it 2) This film gives all amateur film-makers hope. If this can be made then anything can, so for that reason it should get decent marks.