Directed by Dallas Jenkins | Written by Platte F. Clark, Darin McDaniel, and Ryan Swanson, based on a novel by Barbara Robinson | 99 min | ▲▲▲▲△ | Crave
As someone who tends to avoid seasonal fare before December, I’m now leaning in to new Christmas movies. I’d seen no marketing around this one, but noticed it’s been out for a few weeks, and a glance at Rotten Tomatoes revealed a positive rating. I took a chance on a matinee out at Bayers Lake. I was pleased to see Judy Greer in a lead role, but then noticed the subtle and not-so-subtle faith-based storytelling seeping into the picture. There are no religious prejudices here at FLAW IN THE IRIS, but I’m no fan of evangelical propaganda, as anyone who read my review of this film can attest.
Imagine my shock when The Best Christmas Pageant Ever winds up being quality seasonal entertainment — wholesome, traditional, and Christian, yes, but also regularly funny, occasionally irreverent, and genuinely heartwarming stuff. Interestingly, this isn’t even the first adaptation of the book it’s based on — there was a TV version in 1983 with Loretta Swit.
We’re back in the 1970s in the small, wintry American town of Emmanuel — Winnipeg standing in nicely with a lot of real snow — and the yuletide season has arrived. The world’s most boring Christmas pageant is about to be put on and run in the same way it always has, with the same cast of kids playing the key roles. Beth Bradley (Molly Belle Wright, and as the narrator looking back, Lauren Graham) is one of the kids and she dreads it. Children are the core of this story, and having it told from Beth’s perspective is one of its smarter moves.
So far, so very Christmas Story, but not in a bad or derivative way. Most of the seasonal sludge we get every year doesn’t approach the charm of that holiday classic, so it’s good to see someone at least make the attempt.
The shame of the town of Emmanuel is a family of six children — The Herdmans. “The Herdmans are the worst kids in the history of the world,” Beth tells us. They live in a rundown old house, and the neighbours never see the parents. The Herdmans steal from and bully the other kids at school. Their leader is the dirty-faced, redheaded eldest girl, Imogene (Beatrice Schneider). When she gets wind that the townsfolk get food at church on Sunday, she’s suddenly interested in spiritual matters, especially the story of Mary, Jesus, and Joseph.
This complicates matters around the Christmas Pageant. The lady who usually runs it has broken both legs, and Beth’s mother, Grace (Greer), has agreed to take it over. The Herdmans’ sudden interest in the pageant means the good kids, afraid of a beating, won’t volunteer for their usual roles. Grace gives them all to the Herdmans, those hellspawn, the chaos bringers.
This is a terrific premise for seasonal fare. The period elements are soft-pedalled, but the costumes and cars are unmistakable. Is the kids’ sudden concern around the particular details of the Nativity a bit far fetched if their motivation is snacks? Yes. But the child actors are so charming — Wright and Schneider are especially good, but there’s no weak link in this talented bunch — we’re totally drawn into their story. Maybe an even more far-fetched suggestion that the Herdmans might be motivated by the idea of being someone else, which is satisfied by taking roles in the play, but even that idea gets some traction thanks to the kids’ winning performances.
When Imogene says her mother is never up in the day you can see how this whole thing could get pretty grim, but we never see inside the Herdmans’ house. The suggestion of depravation is made without needing to get into specifics. This while the writers are clever enough to treat everything with a light touch, eschewing the heavy hand of many Christian movies.
It’ll be no spoiler that the pageant happens — it’s right there in the title — and even villainous characters turn out to have a lot of gold in their hearts after all. Some directorial choices in the third act don’t work, like when the picture leans into depictions of immaculate birthdays of the past, but by then the story will have worked its seasonal magic.
One more note: This shouldn’t be necessary to say at this point in her career, but it is — Judy Greer remains underappreciated, and it’s great to see her leading in a quality project like this, even if it doesn’t utilize a lot of her trademark wit.
