Review: A family of misfits tests the spirit of charity in ‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’

There’s no shortage of seasonal films that claim to extol the “true meaning of Christmas” and this year, the holiday comes early with Dallas Jenkins’ “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” based on the 1972 novel by Barbara Robinson. But whether you’ll be excited to receive this one under the tree may depend on your tolerance for precocious kiddos and faith-based stories that come wrapped as wacky family comedies.

Adapted by Platte Clark, Darrin McDaniel and Ryan Swanson, Robinson’s book also was made into a 1983 TV movie starring Fairuza Balk, and Jenkins leans into 1970s and ’80s nostalgia, making his film a period piece. Narrated by Beth (Lauren Graham), her recounting of a story from childhood serves as a voice-over for the film.

Jenkins reserves the adult Beth for a reveal at the very end, though the film would have been served by an opening bookend — the script is heavy on voice-over, but there’s a lack of connection with who’s doing the talking. It feels like a very generic adaptation with a celebrity narrator, when Graham’s Beth could have had a stronger presence in the film for connection to contemporary times, and a reason why we should take heed of this retro fable.

Molly Belle Wright plays the young Beth, but it’s the indispensable Judy Greer who hoists this project on her back and carries it. Playing Beth’s mother, Grace, she volunteers to direct their small town’s famed Christmas pageant after an incident befalls the longtime director. Her tenure comes just as a group of ruffian siblings, the Herdmans, who are deemed the “worst kids ever,” have suddenly taken an interest in church and the annual pageant (they heard there were snacks).

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The rebellious Herdmans, led by the flame-haired eldest sibling, Imogene (Beatrice Schneider), are known as a smoking, stealing, generally chaos-raising bunch. They intimidate their way into the lead roles and bring a fresh perspective to the material. And while everyone at the church turns up their noses at the Herdmans, it’s plainly obvious the kids are suffering from neglect. It makes for a strange tone throughout the film, that the congregation is so horrified by kids who are clearly hungry and fending for themselves, so it’s hard to laugh at their high jinks. At least the film nails the idea that often, extremely religious in-groups can tend toward judgment and rejection rather than welcoming care.

“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” strives to be a “Bad News Bears”-type comedy before it attempts a 180-degree turn into a heartwarming tale of unlikely interlopers who help a group of people truly understand Christmas. It doesn’t pull off the former but squeaks out the latter, largely due to Greer’s sincere performance. She is tasked with explaining to her daughter (and the audience) that the Herdmans’ unique take on the Christmas story is actually much closer to the real thing: an impoverished, downtrodden family of refugees who are chosen by God to bring Jesus into the world. “Jesus belongs to the Herdmans just as much as anyone else,” she chides her daughter. Wouldn’t you know it, that crazy group of kids helps not just Grace to see the light but everyone in their congregation.

The film itself is a fairly slight story, gussied up in period costuming and hair. The rest of the retro aesthetic is achieved with a desaturated color palette that is not well served by the digital photography and dim lighting. Jenkins’ direction is serviceable at best and the style is drab rather than nostalgically worn.

As far as family-friendly, faith-based holiday movies go, you could do worse than “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” though it might not quite connect with all young audiences, as the film leans more toward poignant than playfully riotous. However, we all could stand to remember that Christmas is about so much more than pageantry, and that the roots of these rituals come from stories of togetherness and charity. It never hurts to be reminded of that.

Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.