Though Catherine Hardwicke made her directing debut with the girls-gone-wild expose THIRTEEN (2003) and might seem a controversial choice for a religious film, this retelling of the familiar tale is as solemnly predictable as a Catholic-school nativity play, and nearly as dull. It begins in a scrum of churning hoofs, as wicked King Herod (Ciaran Hinds, all but twirling his handsome moustache with evil glee), dispatches soldiers to slaughter all of tiny Bethlehem's male children under the age of 2, hoping to derail the prophecy that says the tiny town will spawn a king for all people. Flashback to one year earlier: Elderly priest Zechariah (Stanley Townsend) visits Je...
Released:
2006
Rated:
PG
Length:
101 mins