joben-525-633946 'Nativity!' while specifically aimed towards children, is without doubt an emotionless and embarrassing tale of how a group of narrowly intellectual adults attempt to bring 'Hollywood stars' to Coventry in a bid to see their Nativity performance.While you cannot fault 'Nativity!' for keeping to its target audience with its content, it's so innocent it rapidly becomes cringing. The apparent jokes and humour all revolve around stereotypical school children immaturity and this is unlikely to please anyone who has been through (or going through) puberty.Humour was appallingly below par, even for the average key stage two citizen, however the negatives do not halt there. The narrative has no emotional grapple with the audience as Martin Freeman's Paul Maddens attempts to rekindle his relationship with Ashley Jensen's Jennifer Lore whilst making his school production a success in the eyes of Alan Carr's local newspaper critic. It's premise is quite enjoyable however Debbie Issit manages to make a mockery of anyone with average intellects with a collection of dreary sing-a-longs patched together with a story you can't care much about.'The School of Rock' is an example of a similar scenario with a similar tale. However, this was exemplary with Jack Black excelling in the leading role. This was a much more cohesive piece as it was hilarious while it also had a strong leading role alongside some admirable performances from the children.And then there was 'Nativity!'. Well...

FlashCallahan Primary school teacher Paul Maddens is charged with producing the school's nativity play.Competing against the posh rival school for the honour of best reviewed show in town, the stakes are raised when Paul boasts that his ex-girlfriend Jennifer, a Hollywood Producer, is coming to see his show with a view to turning it into a film.With assistant Mr Poppy fuelling his lie, Maddens suddenly finds himself a local celebrity and at the centre of parents and over-excited children desperate for fame and fortune.Maddens' only hope is to get back in touch with Jennifer and lure Hollywood to town....To be honest, the poster for this movie put me right off. I make a rule of not seeing a film where the star is surrounded by kids looking slightly perplexed, see also Daddy Day Care.But my daughter dragged me to see the sequel, and that wasn't too bad, so I thought 'why not'.And to be fair, it's a really fun film, not a Christmas classic by any means, but clever, and funny.And kudos to the makers, if there is any truth to the fact that the majority of this was improvised.Freeman is as good as always, if being a little too much like Tim from the office, but he has great chemistry with the children, and they are endearing also.It's predictable, but who cares, it's a Christmas movie and it does its job of making you feel gooey inside and happy with the world for at least five minutes after the film has finished.

moderniste This movie is playing on Showtime, and I've been laid up in bed with nothing much to do but read, surf the web and watch TV, so thank god for Showtime!! This movie initially was something I avoided, since I usually really hate kid movies. But strike that; I learned that I really hated *American* kid movies; British kiddie films (and romcoms) are so much better and much more fun. Although Brit humour is right up front, these movies tend not to be dripping with the kind of bottomless cynicism and coy promotion of greedy materialism that lies at the heart of most American movies aimed at the rated G set.For example, in Nativity!, all the kids come from decidedly the underprivileged and underdog working classes, and their chief rival is a posh upper-class school. In an American film, the gold at the heart of the rainbow would have been literally that: gold. The kids would somehow end up fabulously rich at the end, and their poor, belabored working class parents would now able to buy them everything they could possibly want at Christmastime--the true American dream. In Nativity!, all they really want to do is put on a wicked good holiday show and maybe get their depressed teacher back with his girl. Christmas is not nearly as commercialized and monetized in Europe and the UK, and this aspect is very refreshing whilst watching a movie about the one season that American has utterly and completely ruined. I'm usually quite the grinch about our holiday season, but watching this movie made me happy that all the world is not American. (I'm waiting for someone to call me un-American and a Euro Socialist, hee hee) The musical scene at the end; the Nativity play in all its glory, is stupendous. Simply put, the songs are so catchy that I actually had to buy the soundtrack, which will be a neat from-leftfield addition to the usual hackneyed Christmas music selection. (Note to Americans: in general, the Brits have it all over us in the Xmas music department. They have a yearly holiday music competition, and some pretty great songs have come out of it. Whenever I play my Brit Xmas CDs, everyone is instantly singing along to songs they've heard for the first time, and asking me who it is.) The staging of the kids and the way they handled modernizing the nativity theme for the 7-13 set was really quite amazing. For instance, all of the kids want to please their parents who've never had a chance at anything grest, and want to play the Mary or Joseph role. So, the teacher devises a way in which they ALL can individually be Mary and Joseph in the staging of one of the central musical numbers. Great costumes and sets, and I liked that the kids were NOT too-cutesy, been-there-done-that Hollywood kid pros, as would have been the case in anything American. (One reviewer expressed relief in being able to take her pre-teen girl to see something fun that didn't feature Hanna Montana and shopping: too true!) Some of the kids really can sing, and the ones who are just OK make up for it in pure enjoyment of what they're doing. As others have mentioned, I LOVED the little sprite who played Bob, with his funny strong country accent and rock-n-roll attitude. I imagine I'll be seeing more of that kid; he's too cute and full of a natural energy to slip through the cracks.

rowiko What a delightful film! I watched it on a recent flight, thinking I'd go for something light that would keep me awake, not expecting too much really, and then I was absolutely delighted by this feel-good movie! Great and very convincing performance by Martin Freeman. And "Mr. Poppy" (Marc Wootton) is an absolute joy to watch. But it's definitely the children that make this film so special. Some of them are absolutely hilarious.Great soundtrack, too. Songs that stick in ones mind even long after watching the film.This is truly one of the best, most heartwarming and most enjoyable Christmas films I've ever seen, and it goes to show that a director doesn't need a huge budget to put together a film that is a joy to watch for everyone - children and adults alike!