Journey to Bethlehem

It's a musical, so I had to coerce hubby to go with me to see it. Not twenty minutes into the film and I knew that I wanted the soundtrack.

The music leans Disney, almost like the scores were compiled by a team of individuals from early 2000s Disney payroll.

Expect theatrics, dances, choreography...everything. It's done quite well. Very entertaining. The sets fall someplace between a small-stage theater and a big screen production. Simple script, but good. Well acted. Beautiful cast members, costumes, and settings.

Hubby confessed how much he enjoyed the film, especially the end. And of course, it's clean family fun.

Others may disagree, but I see the liberties taken to fill in gaps are reasonable and necessary. The movie presents a vision of the possible life and expletive of Joseph and Mary and the 3 wise men and, likely, the evolution of a soul when presented with the gift of God through Jesus Christ. Perfect? No. Well done? Absolutely!

Three wise men as stooges or comedic interludes? Nope, not even barely! They show the son of Herod (a prototypical seeker) learning from the 3 wise men in his transformation.

The movie shows what did happen and what might have happened in the gaps that exist in scripture. The characters are well-developed and the viewer is able to see the world from many different angles.

Frankly, if anyone criticizes the depiction of Mary because she doesn't fit into their "mental picture" of who Mary was and is, then shame on you because this Mary is much more realistic and approachable than any other depiction of Mary that I've ever seen or heard.

I've watched this film more times than I can count because it is helping me through medications for physical Illnesses that I have. I know the film isn't perfect, but WOAH! The characters and their passion for God and truth is clear and obvious.

Take what you will, but know this: God is in this story!

I was a little unsure how cheesy this would be, but I saw a clip of Antonio Baneres singing his song and wanted to watch. I was really surprised how much I liked it! The songs were good, seeing Joel Smallbone was a great surprise, I love For King and Country. Is the story embellished ,yes, especially the Mary and Joseph part but I didn't mind that, I liked the actors so I was okay with the story liberties there. Baneras was so great - he has such a great singing voice - and the three Wise men were entertaining. Overall I really liked it and can see this becoming part of the annual Christmas movie rotation.

What if you re-imagined life before Jesus. And then attempted to sanitize the idea that Mary was an ambitious post-teen who had aspirations to be a teacher but accepts the task of being a surrogate to Mom to God. Typing this out loud I laugh to myself how silly it may sound. And perhaps that's what the moviemakers thought too. So they inject it with non-memorable songs. But they're so semi-polished to the budget from a studio that pumps its money into Marvel stuff and reserves some dough to throw at faith based flicks like this. Yes, it's clearly a religious movie. I mean, it IS about Jesus. But it doesn't necessarily slap you across the face with it. They astutely let you have some fun with it. With some pratfalls and silly humor, they did something smart and NOT take it all that seriously.

However, it still stops short of being all that interesting. Antonio Banderas plays King Herod with great evil fun. He knows what movie he wants to be in and commits to some bizarre behavior that taps into madness.

Look, the stakes are very low in this flick. They dump all the ugliness and violence of those days and gives you an abridge overview of the "Greatest Story Ever Told" Take this statement for what its worth.

If not for the stunning Fiona Palomo who plays Mary, it's hard to say the flick is all that watchable. It seemed a little bit...cheap. Obviously this is a budgeted piece that whiffs at Hallmark Holiday level flicks. There is nothing particularly dramatic. Fiona plays Mary sweet and innocent. With wide-eyes and wholesome quality, it's really hard to NOT like this movie.

It's a good flick to fill boredom during the holidays but I didn't find it all that re-watchable.

I don't mind musicals, but they aren't necessarily my favorite genre of film. I saw the trailer for this movie and thought it looked corny, however, a friend wanted to see it so I thought I'd give it a chance. I have to admit I was blown away. Yes they do take artistic license with some of the nativity story, but the most important aspects are featured so I don't think anyone would say it was heretical. What really captured my attention though was the musical performances. The singers were amazing. The musical score was top notch. As I was watching it other artists and productions came to mind to compare it with. One of the early songs Antonio Banderas sang reminded me of the Imagine Dragon song Believe (it wasn't exactly like it, just gave me that strong hard edge vibe that fit the horrid King well). A song that Mary sang reminded me a little of the film The Greatest Showman. I even got Evita and Yentl vibes. The quality of the performances were that good. If you like musicals you should like this one. And, it doesn't stop there. The cinematography was done well and the production value was high quality. Great costumes, make-up, and set design. I couldn't find how much their budget was, but if it was low you sure couldn't tell it. I hope people give it a chance. The more people who go the longer it will stay in theaters. I might even go again if it doesn't leave theater's too quickly. It's a good family friendly movie, just right for this time of year.