LOS ANGELES (ABP) — One week after its debut, a movie based on the Gospels' simple Nativity narrative is spurring optimism among Christian film fans, who seem willing to overlook potentially scandalous news about one of the movie's stars.
“The Nativity Story” debuted Dec. 1 to mixed reviews and a less-than-stellar box-office performance. But Christian moviegoers are reportedly enthused about the film, despite news that the unmarried 16-year-old actress playing Mary recently experienced her own not-so-immaculate conception in real life.
The film, which retells the original Christmas story just in time for the holiday season, is the first biblical feature in several years to have a wide release. It took in $7.8 million on more than 3,000 screens in its opening weekend. That put it in fourth place, behind the animated feature “Happy Feet,” the thriller “Déjà Vu” and the latest James Bond flick, “Casino Royale.”
Reviews of the film were decidedly mixed. For instance, the New York Times' A.O. Scott praised the film's “quiet, unassuming professionalism” in faithfully retelling the ancient birth narrative. But Ann Hornaday of the Washington Post labeled it a “drab exercise in glum piety” that “slumps where it should soar, sapping the story of its mystery and transcendence with an overriding sense of literality.”
On two websites that compile and average ratings from a number of film critics, the average review for the film was middling. On Rottentomatoes.com, for instance, The Nativity Story ended up with an average rating of 5.5 out of 10. On Metacritic.com, the film received 52 out of 100 possible points.
However, some of the film's strongest reviews came from critics at several of the nation's most prestigious newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the San Francisco Chronicle.
In a conference call with reporters on the film's opening day, co-producer Wyck Godfrey suggested the ultimate valuation of the movie comes from the individual viewer. “I can only speak for myself in that it has so strengthened my relationship with God where I feel that, if nothing happens with the movie, it already has done its job for me,” he said.
Godfrey said he, his co-producer Marty Bowen and director Catherine Hardwicke were each “sort of brought up in the church and each of us, in our young-adult lives sort of strayed away.” But their involvement in the project has strengthened each's faith, he added.
“We're very proud and feel blessed that we have this film,” Godfrey said.
New Zealand actress Keisha Castle-Hughes said playing the role of the teenaged mother of Jesus was “a source of spiritual richness.”
Just prior to the film's world premiere at the Vatican, Castle-Hughes revealed she is expecting her first child in the spring. The 16-year-old star of Whale Rider and Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith said she is “thrilled” to be pregnant. The father is her 19-yer-old boyfriend.
The Vatican audience, which responded to the screening with a standing ovation, seemed unperturbed by the revelation. A member for the Papal Council for Culture said Castle-Hughes was expected to play her part well, not be a saint.
In the United States, Catholic League spokesman William Donohue said media hopes for a “juicy story” about a Christian backlash against Castle-Hughes were unfulfilled. “Despite what some think, Christians do not turn their backs on unwed mothers,” he said. “They provide services for them.”
Still James Smith, editor of the Florida Baptist Witness, called the pregnancy “not a minor matter.” “Tragically, it seems most of the discussion about Castle-Hughes' pregnancy centered on her ability to handle the pressures of motherhood as a 16-year-old and whether the pregnancy will harm her promising acting career, with little discussion of the morality of sexual activity among unmarried teenagers,” he wrote, adding, “we should all be careful to not invest more in this film than can be reasonably expected of a secular effort.”
The film has not been marketed as aggressively to Christian audiences as the only other recent comparable release, Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. That film proved highly controversial, due to many critics' view that it had anti-Semitic undertones and seemed obsessed with the gory details of the Crucifixion.
In reaction to those criticisms, many evangelical Protestants and conservative Catholics aggressively pushed for fellow churchgoers to see the film as an act of faith.
David Jeremiah, a popular evangelical radio personality and pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in San Diego, told reporters that the lack of significant controversy surrounding The Nativity Story has provided a welcome respite from the nation's “culture wars.”
“What I sense is it's raising the level of discussion about Christmas back to where it should be,” Jeremiah said. “Rather than getting involved in the 'Christmas war,' it's gone beyond the Christmas war — and the whole level of discussion is raised already.”
Godfrey said he and his co-producer had hoped the film could be successful without specifically targeting a Christian audience.
“You've seen a lot of press and marketing … about Hollywood chasing the Christian market. And Hollywood is a business,” he said. “This movie is our kind of faith in the fact that that's not the case — that people want to see movies that are important to them, that are emotionally important to them.”
He continued: “They want good entertainment …. They don't want sort of marginalized, pandering Christian fare.”
Whether or not a broad audience ends up proving the producers right, Godfrey said the film has had one significant positive impact in an overwhelmingly secular Hollywood environment.
“It's opened peers of mine up to my own faith,” the producer said.
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— Greg Warner contributed to this article.