“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” a movie based on its namesake award-winning book by Barbara Robinson, was released on Nov. 8 to an eager audience. Unfortunately, the film was disappointing thanks to cheap production quality and bad acting.
The film takes place in a small town during the 1970s, where troublemaking children decide to crash a local church-run Christmas pageant. They take the main roles of the play and change the town’s mindset regarding the Bible and the children.
The most admirable thing about the film is how well it sticks to the book, unlike the countless recent film adaptations that abandon the original story and improvise too much.
The canon moments and familiar lines are welcoming, which gave me premature confidence in the script. Additionally, the performance of familiar actors, such as Lauren Graham, made the movie more enticing.
More than that, I appreciate how the movie gave Imogene, one of the main characters, a much-needed backstory. In the books, I never fully understood why she acted the way she did, as she appeared to cause trouble without any real reason. This movie gives me a window into her personal life the book never explored.
Unfortunately, whatever positives the film has are nullified by the terrible acting. Some of the inexperienced actors ruin the performance through their stiff and robotic movements, and it is obvious when they forget their lines.
Additionally, the screenwriters could have done a better job making conversations run like they would in a natural household setting instead of using overly sugary language, which damaged the believability of the scenes.
The setting of the movie is also disappointing. Instead of a warm, cozy atmosphere like one would expect from a Christmas movie, the creators decided to go with a bitterly cold vibe, similar to the 2005 version of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” I expect more Christmas spirit from a family holiday film.
The newest version of “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” is a fun family movie to watch over the holidays, but details like the acting stop it from truly replacing the written version. Do not raise your expectations for this film — mine were brought down like heavy winter snow.
