PHOENIX (AZFamille) — Naughty or nice… why not both?

Synopsis

When Grace Bradley (Judy Greer) is tasked with putting on her church’s annual Christmas pageant, prompting snickers and jeers from some of the more vain congregants. His job is made even more difficult when the Herdmans, a clan of juvenile delinquent siblings, interfere in the competition and take over. Can Grace and the Herdmans win the public’s affection by performing The best Christmas competition ever?

My thoughts

Christmas is approaching again and with a new Christmas season comes a new Christmas movie that is in the running to become that new “Christmas classic” that will be playing in living rooms for years to come. At this point there are so many different Christmas movies that they all feel exactly the same in one way or another, but maybe that’s kind of the point. It’s a question of tradition, right?

The best Christmas competition ever is an adaptation of Barbara Robinson’s 1972 novel. I wasn’t familiar with the source material, but it seems the director Dallas Jenkins and writers Ryan Swanson, Platte ClarkAnd Darin McDaniel accurately captured the mood of a quaint 70s children’s novel about realizing the “true meaning of Christmas.” Like the various films that inspired it, this story has a timeless quality despite the retro setting.

Practice what you preach

Jenkins said he has wanted to adapt this story for two decades, and his experience as a Christian filmmaker greatly influenced the story here. I haven’t seen his other works, but I was certainly surprised that a film that has its Christianity on its cover never comes off as preachy. Obviously, the values ​​of loving and accepting everyone despite their flaws are preached to the audience, but it is never done in a demeaning, holier-than-thou way.

Even if you are a secular family that celebrates Christmas without the religious aspect, the message of the story is still valid. You could remove the Christmas element altogether and just tell the story of some misfit kids who get a second chance from the community, achieving the same result. The filmmakers’ hearts were in the right place and even if it gets a little schmaltzy at times, there is seriousness to it all.

Jenkins knows that the most important thing when it comes to making a film is that the audience needs to be entertained, and The best Christmas competition ever it was actually quite fun. There’s plenty for adults and kids alike, with relatable characters for all ages. The dialogue was also quite snappy, where I wasn’t just laughing, but laughing out loud for many moments.

It’s really the darn little Herdmans that make it the most fun to watch. While they are certainly troublemakers and bullies, it is obvious that they have good hearts. Their cynical perception of the Nativity story was hilarious from a naive and childish perspective, like wondering why an innkeeper would turn away a pregnant woman or wanting to execute King Herod for trying to kill the baby Jesus. It’s a story that treats the birth of Jesus with respect, but isn’t afraid to crack a joke or two when examined more critically through a modern lens.

Chaotic Christmas

While it’s all a bit of fun, I think what stops it from being a true Christmas classic is that it lacks a central character. Beth, Grace’s daughter (Molly Belle Wright) is technically the main character, since she’s the one doing the narrating, but she doesn’t do much until the very end. Since most of her screen time is devoted to narrating her adult self, Wright is relegated to simply standing in the background with a blank expression as Lauren Graham explains his thoughts.

Jenkins was going to get a A Christmas story vibe here, but unlike that iconic film, the narration and lead performance from the child actor aren’t as witty and engaging. Beth is just a pretty blah character overall, which unfortunately also goes for all the other child characters besides Imogene (Beatrice Schneider), the eldest Herdman. They’re all there, fidgeting in their positions waiting to deliver their lines.

Imogene really feels like the main character because she easily has the most depth and best represents the themes of the story. Schneider is a talented young actress who had an emotionally charged role to take on, sometimes without dialogue. It’s a very soft and natural performance that greatly enhances the more dramatic scenes, especially at the end. Developing his and his siblings’ characters a little more would have made these scenes even better.

Judy Greer is great as always, aptly cast as the sweet suburban mom trying to prove all her uptight neighbors wrong. Grace and her husband Bob (Pete Holmes) are two of the few decent adults in all of history, so they are easy people to encourage. Although we’ve all seen this sort of thing with snobby townspeople who need to learn the true meaning of Christmas many times before, Jenkins still executes these clichés quite well. It helps that everyone involved in this looks like they’re having a good time.

Final verdict

The best Christmas competition ever certainly isn’t the most original movie out there, but for families looking for a fun Christmas at the movies, it more than does its job. I don’t think Jenkins really created the Christmas classic he was hoping for, but he did create a funny and heartfelt film that everyone could enjoy on some level. Representing what Christmas is, it is all-inclusive and does not alienate anyone.

My rating: 6/10

The best Christmas competition ever will be released in theaters nationwide on Friday, November 8.

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