Advent Calendar Day Fifteen: Nativity Review (5/5)

There's no shaking the feeling that Nativity is doomed right from the outset. Immediately, its plot-lines of a lost romance, lying to keep kids happy and eventually putting on a large-scale production will seem like mere Ghosts of Christmas Films Past to seasoned viewers, so it's a completely welcome surprise to find that this is one of the best festive flicks of recent times. Current Sherlock star Martin Freeman shines as a stern teacher who has lost his love of December 25th ever since having his relationship shattered on the big day, but though it would have been easy for Nativity to turn into the umpteenth version of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol with Freeman as Scrooge, the literal stars of the show here are the kids. No, you won't know any of their names, but each one adds a little something to the movie that results in an emotionally stirring climax for even hard-core fans of action films such as myself. In fact, that's the crux of Nativity: it's the little things that count here, such as the hilarious antics of Mr. Poppy, the great (though minor) cameos of Alan Carr as the Critic and the festive songs throughout that make it a British comedy that should be remembered for its light-hearted yet touching approach to the season of good will, and proves that the kids aren't just all right- they are simply fantastic.