It was interesting that all of the reviews I read before we went (including mine) basically said the same thing about the actual movie:
1. There are some big differences in the chronology used in the movie and what is presented in the Bible.
2. In order to make a compelling movie (particularly to kids) from the stories in the Bible, one needs to "fill-in-the-gaps". The Bible is not a screenplay and so it does not layout everything one needs to make a story come to life on the big screen.
3. The basic story of Mary & Joseph, from the angel appearing through the birth of Jesus, was kept intact. Also, they did a good job of making sure that this baby was God's son and not just another baby.
4. The Gospel was not clear from the movie.
From this point, the difference in the reviews that I read stem from the goal the reviewer had for the movie. If they saw the goal of the movie was to present the Christmas Story from the Bible, they took a negative view of the movie and focused on items 1, 2, and 4 from above. If they saw goal of the movie was to present a child-friendly, child engaging, retelling of the Christmas Story to let the audiences get a new perspective on the Biblical account, they were much more positive towards the movie and focused on item 3 from above.
As one reviewer noted, this story is presented from the eyes of a donkey, how accurate can we expect it to be! For me, the movie was a very enjoyable movie and extremely kids-friendly. The characters were engaging and Mary and Joseph were portrayed as real people going through a difficult situation. I would recommend the movie to everyone I can.
That being said, how should we deal with the problems of the movie? Well, I do not think they are insignificant but I also think that they each can be discussed in light of the Bible. Here are some suggestions to deal with these issues:
1. Afterwards, talk about what was the same and what was different from the Bible account. Why do you think the movie makers made the changes that they did to the real story? Was it necessary to make the "animal story"/movie go or was it part of the real story?
2. See the characters in a new light. Since we all have heard the story many times before, how did the movie show you something different about the real story? How was Mary and Joseph portrayed? What were they feeling as they were traveling? What problems did they have?
3. Pay attention to the response by the animals to seeing the baby. What should our response be to Jesus? How did the camels respond? Donkey? Dogs?
Finally, please do not be surprised that it is rated PG. According to IMDB, the rating is due to content in the "Violence and Gore" category. Here is what it says (not much at all):
"Few characters get frightened by a group of wolves but sometimes, characters get a little bit hurt in some scenes." I was not aware that it was PG until after I saw it and I was shocked. There was nothing that I could see that warranted a PG rating.
To be honest, the questions listed above should be how we look at all "Bible" movies. Instead of blasting the movie for where it is wrong, let's use it as a great conversation piece and point people to the real story. This movie is a great way to get kids excited to talk about Jesus, Mary and Joseph. That should be our real goal to see this movie.
