The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

So I gave this a 9/10. I want everyone to know this is not a true 9/10, but instead this is based on a scale of catching the meaning of Christmas. Let's go ahead and say 10 is it's a Wonderful Life.

Tthe Best Christmas Pageant Ever" is a 9/10. I don't say this lightly. Goodness, it has been years since a movie captured the true spirit of Christmas. The spirit that makes you want to be a better person, and believe in others ability to change. That vibe is so hard to come by, but wow does this movie get it done.

Yes, it's a Christian movie, but not in a preachy way in the slightest. This movie is subtle, and wonderful, and leaves you wanting to be a better person.

Just wow. For a family Christmas movie, bravo.

Yes it's sappy.

Yes it's predictable.

But good Christmas movies usually are.

We laughed. I cried a good bit.

I wish we had more movies like this.

I wish we had movies that didn't have to have tons of sex and violence. I actually took both kids and my mother in law and we all enjoyed it at different levels. I call that success and it gives me hope.

Most Christian movies are bad. But not this one. It was well acted. The music and editing felt top notch. At no point did I feel like I'd be embarrassed to recommend this film. And I don't think every Christian film has to hit you in the head with the gospel. This one hit that perfect balance.

I really disliked the first hour or so. It try's really hard to duplicate the "Christmas Story" vibe but fails repeatedly to evoke any positive nostalgia. Also fails at humor. Everything seems very contrived and lacks any real emotion. I expect the "bad" kids to be a little over the top bad, but they should have some substance behind them. Everybody is two dimensional.

Then we get into the putting together the pageant and plenty of holes in the plot here too. But when we get to the retelling of the Christmas story I must confess that my heartstrings were pulled. There was a meaningful Christmas message that evolved from a pretty drawn out schmaltzy production. If I had turned it off after half an hour as I was tempted to do it would have gotten a 2. The last part brought it up to 7.

Some reviewers here are bashing this movie because they say it is overtly religious. Not true at all and you shouldn't listen to them. It deals with being kind to people who aren't easy to like. It centers around a play around the birth of Jesus. Hello!!!!! That is what Christmas is about. It does not in the slightest shove converting to Christianity down your throat like some have inaccurately stated.

It's a nice family friendly movie that isn't filled with adult language. If you want a feel good story with a good message then this is the movie for you. Will it win any Hollywood awards? No. It has a decent story and some scenes that made me chuckle and even tug at the heart strings a bit.

Don't listen to the naysayers. They probably prefer the blood and guts movies anyway.

Over the decades, our society has gone from MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (on my IMDb list of best films) to many dozens of meet-cute pseudo romcoms that pretend to be X-mas films, and are forgotten as soon as the closing credits roll. Most if not all replete with suspicious Canadian accents. Finally, we have a film which is not original but on-point, interesting, well-written, well-acted, and impactful. They should all be like this. They won't. But they should. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))