Went to go see the movie, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever last night. I had read the story as a family one year at Christmas ages ago, so I knew the story, but I had little to no expectations going into this movie.
Little did I know that I would fall in love with it and that it would rival my wife and I’s favorite Christmas movie that we watch each year – Pottersville. It’s a surprising movie that revels in schtick, creating monstrous humor and sideways wryness. If you’re into Wes Anderson films and the quirky humor presented straight-up as if it’s not intended to be funny, you’ll find Pottersville and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever to be quite endearing. It reminds me of the characters in Napoleon Dynamite. They’re offbeat and wacky but presented matter-of-factly. Dry, deadpan humor abounds. Pottersville tips its hat to unexpected movies like Jaws (the nails down the chalkboard scene – only this one’s about catching Big Foot, not a great white shark), but also tributes itself to It’s a Wonderful Life. Enough about Pottersville, though. This is about The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. I had to bring it up, though, because this new movie has just rivaled if not surpassed that Bigfoot-sightings-hysteria-take-over-a-town-and-everyone-gets-crazy flick, which is hard to do.
Maybe it’s the inclusion of Judy Greer, who is in both films, that made the magic. All I know is that Director Dallas Jenkins (yes, that Dallas Jenkins.) Kirk B. R. Woller, who plays Gaius in The Chosen, shows up as the pastor of Emmanuel’s church. There’s also a coy piece of wall art with fish pointed in various directions that was a cool homage to the popular series. Jenkins did a marvelous job bringing this witty story to the big screen. All the charm yet goofiness of growing up in a family is highlighted with the daughter (Beth)’s narration. We get to feel the embarrassment that young kids, tweens, and teens all can feel from their parents and just being part of a family.
The villain of the movie is a family called the Herdmans, but this ragtag group of kids practically raising themselves in the absence of any parental presence soon wins your heart over as you watch the story unfold and the uptight church ladies become the new villains with their arrogance, pettiness, and ruthless judgmentalism.
The acting by all the children is spot-on, marvelous, and amazing. The adults do a great job, too. Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls, Parenthood) appears at some point in the film as the grown-up Beth, which is quite endearing. Like any good comedy, there’s plenty of one-liners that might live on. This movie certainly has the potential to become an instant cult classic. It’s really that good.
I love a movie that doesn’t have an agenda or doesn’t approach its themes with a heavy-handedness that is easy to spot. The religion in this film (centered around the Christmas story) is presented without apology as if it was just part of the story’s background. It’s a great presentation. I had way more laugh-out-loud moments than goose-bump feelies, but there’s something about that Christmas story and redemption that hits me in the feelies.
While you’re thinking about Christmas, might I recommend a Christmas rock musical called He Rules the World. Like the aforementioned movie, it communicates the real meaning of Christmas in a fun way. It’s being performed four nights in a row from December 16-19 in Waco.
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