The Nativity Story

Faithful retelling of the events leading to the birth of Jesus, from the arrangement of Mary's (Castle-Hughes) marriage to Joseph (Isaac) to the Immaculate Conception to their journey to Bethlehem. A sort of kinder, gentler companion to Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ," it conveys the hope that Jesus' arrival brings amid the mayhem caused by King Herod (Hinds). Though it plays mostly as a Sunday school lesson, director Hardwicke uses her skills as a former production designer to make the scenery gorgeous and detailed, and the teenage Castle-Hughes' performance is solid and mature.