‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” is the perfect holiday family film for all to enjoy this year. It’s playing now in theaters and streaming online, told through a narrator, young Beth Bradley (Molly Belle Wright), who lives with her mother Grace (Judy Greer), her dad Bob (Pete Holmes), and her kid brother Charlie (Sebastian Billingsley-Rodriguez) in the small fictitious town of Emmanuel. The movie is based on Barbara Robinson’s popular 1972 book of the same name, directed by Dallas Jenkins. It is an excellent, heartwarming, poignant movie that teaches all about the story of Mary and Joseph and shows examples of a mom standing her ground for what she believes is right, even though an entire town is against her.
The town of Emmanuel is known for its annual Christmas pageant, which is about to celebrate its 75th anniversary. The long-time organizer and director, the unyielding Mrs. Armstrong (Mariam Bernstein), fell, breaking both of her legs and is out of commission. No one stepped up to lead the pageant, leaving Grace to volunteer. It’s an honorable undertaking that proves to be more challenging than she ever expected. Viewers will appreciate Grace’s confronts as she navigates her new role, one that doesn’t include dealing with the Herdman children, known as the worst kids in the history of the world.
In reading the press notes, director Dallas Jenkins said that he’d been preparing for and visualizing the movie for over fifteen years, as his wife Amanda read the book to their children and it’s a beloved holiday tradition. Over the years, as they read it to their young children, Jenkins remembers laughing out loud right away and then being moved to tears by the end. “It was certainly worth the wait,” says Jenkins. “The timing turned out to be perfect.” The film has exceeded his expectations, and everyone who worked with him agrees he was the ideal director for the project.
Pete Holmes, who plays the dad, remarks, “He brings the best out of the kids, which is not a gift that everybody has…and his passion really is contagious for the project,”
Judy Greer remarked, “It would be really hard to direct this movie, and I’m always impressed every day with how Dallas manages to get everything he needs shot-wise while keeping his cool. The kids all seem to love him.”
As Jenkins says, “I just knew that this story was meant for me, and I was meant for this story.”
I always appreciate a director’s story, as so many times you can feel their passion on the screen. Certainly, that is the case here as he zooms in on Judy Greer’s face as she agonizes over an uncomfortable situation. Jenkins’s style is slow and deliberate, allowing us to soak up the problem and perhaps ponder what we would do.
Again, I can’t say enough great things about the film and the people involved.
To sum up without spoilers, the Herdman kids are a riot. The shenanigans they pull are hysterical and, of course, overexaggerated. They are front and center, with no parents and no one to help them. Grace does find a way to soften them, and I’ll guarantee that by the end of the film, you may shed a tear. The rest of the cast also steps up to create a memorable Christmas story for all to enjoy for generations to come.
U.S. Release Date: November 8, 2024
Directed by: Dallas Jenkins
Screenplay by: Ryan Swanson and Platte F. Clark & Darin McDaniel
Based on: The novel by Barbara Robinson
Produced by: Kevin Downes, Jon Erwin, Andrew Erwin, Darin McDaniel, Chet Thomas, Daryl Lefever
Executive Producers: Dallas Jenkins, Jennifer Booth, Tony Young, Christopher Woodrow, K. Blaine Johnston
Cast: Judy Greer, Pete Holmes, Molly Belle Wright, and Lauren Graham
Runtime: 99 minutes
Sarah Knight Adamson© December 6, 2024
Here’s my H360 Podcast Posted to Hollywood 360 Radio Network website: https://bit.ly/The_Best_Christmas_Pageant_Ever_H30