The Star

2017 "It takes many tails to tell the greatest story ever."
6.3| 1h26m| PG| en| More Info
Released: 17 November 2017 Released
Producted By: Columbia Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thestar
Synopsis

A small but brave donkey and his animal friends become the unsung heroes of the greatest story ever told: the first Christmas.

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Reviews

adonis98-743-186503 A small but brave donkey and his animal friends become the unsung heroes of the first Christmas. Despite a stellar cast and good animation 'The Star' mixes Comedy and religion and the end result is a mess of a film that doesn't know what it wants to be or to do that even little kids will find cheesy and boring to sit threw. (2/10)
ohnoyoudidinmmmhhhmmm All reviews negative towards this film are censored. As such I cannot post any lengthy review.
Hellmant 'THE STAR': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five)A computer-animated Christian family film, about the story of the Nativity of Jesus, told through the eyes of a donkey and other animals. It was directed by Timothy Reckart, and it was written by Carlos Kotkin and Simon Moore (based on an original idea by Tom Sheridan). The film features the voice talents of Steven Yeun, Keegan-Michael Key, Aidy Bryant, Gina Rodriguez, Zachary Levi, Tracy Morgan, Tyler Perry, Oprah Winfrey, Christopher Plummer, Ving Rhames, Gabriel Iglesias, Anthony Anderson, Kelly Clarkson, Patricia Heaton, Kristin Chenoweth, Kris Kristofferson, Mariah Carrey and Delilah. It's received mixed to negative reviews from critics, and it's also a modest hit at the Box Office as well. I found it to be a little too kid friendly, in sometimes a pretty silly way, but religious families will probably enjoy it. The story revolves around a donkey, named Bo (Yeun), who's tired of his life of slavery, milling wheat for his owner, and dreams of joining a traveling caravan. His father (Kristofferson) helps him escape, and he ends up at the home of Mary (Rodriguez), and Joseph (Levi), who let him stay at their home, despite him not wanting to stay there. Mary, being pregnant with Jesus, and Joseph, later leave their home for Bethlehem. Bo, and his dove friend Dave (Key), try to escape, but they end up on an adventure, with other animals, to protect Mary and Joseph instead. The birth of Jesus, and the first Christmas, becomes the result of their efforts of course. I saw the film with my parents, who are Catholic, and they both liked it. I can see why other Christians, especially those with kids, would enjoy it too. For me the storytelling, and filmmaking, are a bit too basic and routine though. There's also an excessive amount of silly kids humor in it (but kids should like it at least), and I didn't really care for the animation either. I did like that it's all told from animals' points of view though, and there's even some animal rights/vegan messages in there (that I really appreciated). I think the film accomplishes what it set out to do, and it should please it's target audience at least.
tavm This was quite an entertaining take on the birth of Jesus as experienced by various animals done on computer animation to both humorous and dramatic effect. The traditional holiday songs are well done in scoring some of the picture. Of the celebrity voices, I noticed Tracy Morgan's from the first time I heard him, while my movie theatre-working friend also noticed Oprah Winfrey's. In summary, The Star is worthy of the tale it tells on film.