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Title: Dreary, shallow and wooden, sigh....
Review: I really wanted to like this movie, as biblical subjects always interest me. But this film is a dreary and uninspir/ed/ing treatment of the Christmas story, all but ruined for me by the lead actress's wooden, callow performance. Surprising, since Castle-Hughes was so fine in the Whalerider film. She has much the same facial expression throughout the movie, no matter the emotional context of each scene. The actor playing Joseph, Oscar Isaac, gave much more depth to his character--a charming and tender performance.The story itself is rendered in a flatly traditional fashion, without any of the warm beauty one might hope for given the Christmas theme. (I'm reminded of the gorgeous birth-of-Christ preface to 1959's Ben Hur--just a few minutes, but oh so emotionally evocative!)All in all, not much to remember or hold dear in this movie. Too bad.
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