West Side Presbyterian Church
Seattle, Washington

January 2007

This month's reviews/features:

• The Nativity Story
• 2006 Retrospective

The Nativity Story

Here’s why you should see The Nativity Story if you haven’t yet:

Claimers--

• Acting: A good performance by Keisha Castle-Hughes as Mary and a superb one by Oscar Isaac as Joseph.
• Realistic look: The picture was filmed in Italy and Morocco, so everything looks real and not in the least Hollywoodish.
• Presentation of the gospel: Excellent; highly inspirational. (But see the disclaimer below.) This is not a soft sell of the divinity of Jesus.
• Insight into the characters of Mary and Joseph: The film does a terrific job at dramatizing how Mary and Joseph might have reacted to the news that Mary would give birth to the Savior of Humankind. Scripture says relatively little about Mary and almost nothing about Joseph, and perhaps we haven’t thought much about how difficult it must have been for them to bear the scorn and ostracism of the townspeople of Nazareth. The Nativity Story shows the developing love between Mary and Joseph and gives us a compelling and touching look at how Joseph might have struggled with his burdens.

Disclaimers--

• Keisha Castle-Hughes, who played the young girl in Whale Rider, is going to give birth to a child out of wedlock and has received criticism in some circles. Perhaps the best response to this is Jesus’ statement that “he who is without sin should cast the first stone.”
• The Wise Men: For purposes of storytelling, the movie has The Wise Men appearing at the manger right after the birth of Jesus. This is traditionally part of the Christmas story, but it’s not scriptural.

Ratings: 3 ½ stars

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One Man’s 2006 Retrospective:
Movies Seen in 2006

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Index of movie reviews...
(2003 reviews through present)

Jay Maurer, a member of West Side Presbyterian Church, is a long-term movie buff and former college teacher of The Film as Literature. He has written movie reviews for The Good News (West Side newsletter) since 2002.

If you have comments or questions about the movie (or play) reviews, please contact Jay at dramachap@msn.com.

Ratings are expressed in increments of ¼ star.
A rating of 2 ½ stars or higher is meant to be a recommendation.
1 star: poor
2 stars: minimally satisfactory
3 stars: quite good
4 stars: superb

Criteria for determining the ratings:

• Reflection, either explicit or implicit, of Christian values, including suitability of language and lack of gratuitous violence
• Quality of the acting
• Originality
• Unity of the entire picture
• Substance, or in the words of C.S. Lewis, weight

Other Christian movie review Web sites:
Plugged In Online
ChristianityTodayMovies.com