52
Metascore
28 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttThe Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttUnfolds in a scrupulously accurate historical adventure story that depicts the world of Jesus' birth with an exciting you-are-there verisimilitude.
- 75Chicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonChicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonThe Nativity Story surprised me. I didn't expect such an obvious art film approach. Yet the Bible, in the King James version, is great English literature.
- 70The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottAt its best, The Nativity Story shares with "Hail Mary" an interest in finding a kernel of realism in the old story of a pregnant teenager in hard times. Buried in the pageantry, in other words, is an interesting movie.
- 60Village VoiceVillage VoiceThere are a few quietly affecting scenes here, in which we see Mary and Joseph as the terribly frightened newlyweds they probably were, unsure of what to make of their extraordinary circumstances. But too often, the actors register as little more than set dressing and, despite Hardwicke's resolve to give us the realNativity as we've never seen it before, much of the movie smacks of convention.
- 58Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerChristian Science MonitorPeter RainerIt's a rather lifeless re-telling of the Nativity, with greeting-card imagery and stiff performances.
- 58The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThe A.V. ClubKeith PhippsA filmed Sunday-school lesson that favors a dry, by-the-Book approach over even a suggestion of dramatic interpretation. It's more Christmas pageant than movie.
- 50VarietyTodd McCarthyVarietyTodd McCarthyMemories of dreary Sunday school classes come flooding back courtesy of The Nativity Story.
- 50ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliAs a piece of religious instruction or an animated version of a crèche, it accomplishes its aims. As a movie, however, it's slow, plodding, and not terribly interesting.
- 42Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanThe Nativity Story is a film of tame picture-book sincerity, but that's not the same thing as devotion. The movie is too tepid to feel, or see, the light.
- 40Austin ChronicleAustin ChronicleThe story is good, but the execution favors the safe over the challenging. Personally, I'd rather just read the Bible.