I've seen two films this year that deliver a premise of Christmas potentially being ruined by an unruly group of siblings. The first one was Nutcrackers. The second one is this, based on a novel by Barbara Robinson that was previously adapted into a TV movie back in the early 1980s. This is the better of the two films, but it's a surprisingly close call, considering how the third act almost undoes the goodwill earned throughout the first two acts.
Judy Greer plays Grace, a woman who ends up inadvertently in charge of her town's Christmas pageant. It's kind of a big deal, and looks to be thrown into chaos when the Herdmans decide they want to participate this year. The Herdmans are a group of brothers and sisters who have a reputation for causing mischief and mayhem wherever they go. They bully other kids and sneer at most adults. But maybe having them be part of the pageant will help others in the town remember the real meaning of Christmas. Or maybe it will just provide extra stress for Grace, her husband (Bob, played by Pete Holmes), their daughter (Beth, played by Molly Belle Wright as a youngster, and Lauren Graham when older/in her capacity as narrator), and their son (Charlie, played by Sebastian Billingsley-Rodriguez).
Now that I have browsed through the filmographies of writers Ryan Swanson, Platte F. Clarke, and Darin McDaniel, as well as that of director Dallas Jenkins, it's easier to see why The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is how it is. What could have been an entertaining mix of comedy, emotional manipulation, and Christmas cheer ends up eventually locking in on the messaging, to either preach to the converted or try to win others over. You still get some emotional manipulation, as expected, but the early promise of laughs being mixed in to sugar-coat the religious pill is discarded for most of the second half of the movie.
The real shame here is how the cast seem to be wasted, especially when they have so much fun with the scenes setting things up in the first half of the movie. Greer and Holmes work very well as the parents, both Wright and Billingsley-Rodriguez are fantastic as the kids initially overwhelmed by, and afraid of, the Herdmans, and Beatrice Schneider is fantastic as the young girl, Imogene, playing mother hen to her chaotic cluster of siblings. The fact that these main cast members all do so well throughout, as does the rest of the supporting cast (special mention for Kyle Heiman being great as young Gladys), is part of the reason why the film still works well enough, but it's a real shame that they end up feeling rather subdued as the message of the movie starts to overshadow the performances.
Some will enjoy this a lot more than I did, and I'm well aware of the fact that me wishing the movie was something a bit different won't seem fair to those who wish for something Christmassy that, well, remembers to put the Christ back in Christmas (for want of a better phrase). It still needed a bit more though, and Jenkins isn't a good enough director to distract viewers from the times in which the movie grinds to a halt to hammer home the main point. There's still plenty to enjoy here, but a lot of people might feel as if they've been forced to attend a sermon as the end credits roll. Which wouldn't be entirely incorrect.
6/10
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