The storytelling is limited because this is not the story of the Hardman family, who start out as antagonists and become the story's sympathetic central characters, but unfortunately are given limited space. Instead, it is the story of Beth, one of many children who find the Hardman kids annoying, and her mother, Grace, who takes over directing the pageant and directing the stage. The pageant itself also becomes the center of local controversy when the Hardmans are forced to play all the lead roles. The film is available to stream on Afdah Info.
It's an interesting idea, full of potential for mischief and practical jokes, but thankfully this isn't a particularly funny story. No, it's about seeing people as more than the sum of their reputations, which are generated from the gossip, prejudices, actions and critical attitudes of others. Even if the screenwriters (director, Pratt Clark, Darin McDaniel, Ryan Swanson) place a little too much emphasis on what the discovery of basic empathy means for everyone but the Hardman kids, this little tale ends up being surprisingly moving in its climax, far surpassing the expectations the material itself harbours.
But the limited perspective becomes a problem, as the Hardman children are more interesting than the other characters in this story. Leading them is the eldest daughter, Imogene (Beatrice Schneider). She loves the idea of starring in a play, just like all the movies she and her siblings are always sneaking into. She volunteers to play Mary, the mother of Jesus, because she looks as sweet and beautiful as the painting of this woman that hangs in the church entrance. After all, Imogene is just a child who wants to be appreciated, liked, and even loved, and that's not what's happening in her home.
Beth begins to understand this as she helps the shepherds learn the Christmas story. So does Grace, as the outcast children offer practical ideas about what Mary and her husband Joseph would have experienced and felt. There's a not-so-subtle religious dimension to the film that alienates Hardman's kids and a myriad of issues that are barely explored.
After all, they're here to teach the town the true meaning of Christmas, not to inspire genuine sympathy. "The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever" may subvert its premise in clever and well-intentioned ways, but it doesn't do enough to give the pastoralists the true meaning they deserve: a role beyond being ambassadors for everyone else.
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