The Nativity Story - "A dull retelling of a well-worn tale." **

Starring: Keisha Castle-Hughes, Oscar Isaac, Ciaran Hinds

Synopsis: A drama that focuses on the period in Mary and Joseph's life where they journeyed to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus.

Review: This story of the Christ lacks passion

By WILLIAM ARNOLD, Seattle-PI.com
P-I MOVIE CRITIC

As we all know, religion has been very big in the movies since the surprise success of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ." Some small-budget production from some church group or denomination seemed to come at us at the rate of one-a-week in 2006.

And the year is ending with the first studio entry in the cycle: "The Nativity Story," directed by Catherine Hardwicke ("Thirteen"), written by Mick Rich ("The Rookie") and bankrolled by New Line Cinema (the company that gave us the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy).

Trade paper wags have dubbed it "The Passion of the Christ: The Prequel," but, as it turns out, the film borrows little from that hit, and more closely resembles the kind of docile, big-budget Hollywood Bible epics that followed the success of "The Robe" in the '50s.

The story opens with an action scene: Herod's campaign to wipe out the generation of male babies prophesied to produce a messiah. Then it flashes back a year to tell the story of the early courtship of Mary (Keisha Castle-Hughes) and Joseph (Oscar Isaac).

Jewish law forbids the betrothed pair to engage in sex, so when an angel of the Lord appears to Mary in the Annunciation and she turns up pregnant after a visit to her cousin, it causes some problems, and Joseph has to publicly forgive her to keep from being stoned to death.

After that, the movie tells the story of the arduous journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem and the birth of Christ, while cross-cutting between the stories of Herod's dirty-dealing and the parallel journey of the three wise men from the East.

The filmmakers have strived to tell their tale, which is part Scripture and part imagined, with the simplicity and sincerity of a Sunday school lesson, and, as far as I can see, it does not veer from tradition in a way that is likely to offend anyone.

It's a handsome production, nicely shot by Elliot Davis ("Thirteen," "Out of Sight") on Italian and Moroccan locations, with a performance by Castle-Hughes ("Whale Rider") as the Virgin that's so pleasing and minimalist it could have been lifted from a fresco by Giotto.

On the other hand, the filmmakers are playing it so safe that there's no surprise or energy to the production, and it's so eager to avoid any religious hysteria that it just doesn't convey any passion or much conviction.

The movie also makes a big mistake by having everyone in the cast (including the angels) speak English with a tortuous accent -- like it's a second language. It makes the dialogue so hard to understand that I often found myself longing for Gibson's Aramaic and English subtitles.

GRADE: B-

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**Just because the movie may be dull does not mean the posters are!

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