I still remember being in 6th grade and my teacher reading to us the story of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. And in a public school no less. Not that the original story is all that “religious.” I loved it. It’s hilarious. I honestly don’t why the book hasn’t been made into a motion picture before (with the exception of the 1983 made-for-TV movie which starred Loretta Swit). Then again, it’s only been fairly recently that anyone would try to tell a nativity-themed story in a humorous way. The only one that I can think (that’s not sacrilegious!) was the animated film, The Star which came out in 2017.
In case you are unfamiliar with the story, it is about a popular Christmas pageant that is presented every year at a small church located in a small town. The show is always the same. It would be almost criminal if it wasn’t. In fact, the same woman has run the pageant every year for 74 years. This is until one year when she found herself laid up with two broken legs.
In the movie, Mrs. Wendelken (Danielle Hoetmer) is happy to take over the job, after all, her blond-haired daughter Alice (Lorelei Olivia Mote) always plays Mary anyway. When Grace Bradley (Judy Greer) offers to direct the show, Mrs. Wendelken suggests that she stay in her lane with her usual cookie duty instead. And that is what propels Grace to take on this most important role.
Meanwhile, Grace’s kids’ Beth (Molly Belle Wright) and Charlie (Sebastian Billingsley-Rodriguez) are being harassed at school daily by the Herdman kids. Imogene (Beatrice Schneider) is the oldest and the ringleader of the bunch. There is also Ralph (Mason D. Nelligan), Claude (Matthew Lamb), Leroy (Ewan Wood), Ollie (Essek Moore) and Gladys (Kynlee Heiman) who is the smallest, but also the loudest.
After Charlie has his dessert taken from his school lunch for the umpteenth time, he says that he doesn’t care anymore since he gets all the treats he wants at Sunday School thinking it would deter the Herdmans from bothering him further. However, the next Sunday, the Herdmans become churchgoers. Not only do they want those promised treats, but they want to play all of the major roles in the pageant too, including Mary. And if the other kids resist, they threaten to beat them up.
Making comedy movies for families is difficult, faith-based or not. Statistically, movies that are aimed at “families” often end up appealing only to children. They are often filled with “crazy Hijinks” and pratfalls. Kids with less discerning taste love this stuff while their parents roll their eyes or look at their watches hoping that it is almost over.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is led and directed by Dallas Jenkins (The Chosen) and is very faithful to the original book. Jenkins not only appreciates the fine art of subtlety, but he also leaves the jokes to Mrs. Robinson. You can’t write this one off as just a cute little faith-based film that will only appeal to those who usually sit in the pews. It is unlike other Christian movies where children stand out as little cherubs and say things that no child would ever say in real life while the adults say things like, “out of the mouths of babes.” We’ve all seen too many movies with “cute” kids as if being cute was a virtue.
Although this holiday tale doesn’t take itself too seriously (it is a comedy after all), it portrays church-going people as they really are, warts and all. The Herdmans are not a gentle bunch. They smoke cigars, shoplift and (gently) cuss. They are the bratty kids you avoid at your local grocery store. But none of them deserve some of the comments that are made by those who should be showing them compassion.
Though the bulk of the characters are female, this is truly a story that everyone can enjoy. The movie never feels like a “chick flick” and nobody is trying to make any of these characters a “girl boss”, with the exception of Imogene Herdman. Actually, there is more to Imogene than what we see at first glance. While teetering close to stereotypical bully clichés, Schneider is able to project and display the many layers of Imogene. Without telling us, we know that this girl has been through a lot. She is the polar opposite of Beth who struggles with having to be nice to Imogene with while also wanting to take pity on her. Her face says it all.
Both of these girls are really good in this film, but this is really Greer’s movie. I really like her as an actress. From everything from the original Jurassic World to the recent Halloween films, she manages to keep her characters grounded regardless of how crazy their surroundings are. Here, we see her frustration with the other church moms. She longs to been seen as having value, but she doesn’t really fit in. We see her fear that her rendition of the pageant might end up being just another one of her failures. We also see her at her wit’s end with the Herdmans while not wanting to give up on them either.
Jenkins also resists the urge to present the Bradleys as the perfect Christian family, but they are one that we might want to model. The kids are able to voice their fears and their angers to their parents in a realistic manner. They want to support Grace, but they can’t help but think that she’s made a big mistake. Her husband, Bob (Pete Holmes) is mostly concerned with having to eat TV dinners while she is busy. (Hey, it was the 70s.) But even still, he’s her biggest fan.
Some scenes in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever may explain more than the average person would like to know about the nativity story, but it never feels like a “religious” movie where everyone gets “saved” in the end. And having Lauren Graham play the adult version of Beth and serve as the story’s narrator, was an inspired choice too. This is a highly entertaining Christmas movie where the nativity story actually takes a backseat from this movie’s main theme: that Jesus came for all people. Even the Herdmans.
Main Image: Imogene Herdman (Beatrice Schneider) and Grace Bradley (Judy Greer) (Lionsgate)
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