Judy Greer in the holiday movie

In Dallas Jenkins The best Christmas pageant evera group of kids wreaks havoc on a small American town, Emmanuel, every day. The Herdmans, according to the narrator (Lauren Graham) of this rugged tale, are “the worst kids in the history of the world” — a title shared by Ralph (Mason D. Nelligan), Leroy (Avon Wood), Claude (Matthew) Lamb, Ollie ( Essek Moore), Gladys (Kinley Heyman) and Imogen (Beatrice Schneider) through a host of shenanigans ranging from the personally offensive to the downright damaging.

A nifty montage at the beginning of the holiday feature shows the Herdmans bullying children and adults with impunity. Taking the Lord’s name in vain. smoking; Stealing from local businesses and even setting fire to a dilapidated shed. The narrator says that because of their hateful behavior, the residents of the community hardly believed that the Herdmen were “real”. “No one knew why they were like that.” And it seems that few people — including, sometimes, the filmmakers themselves — sincerely want to know.

Based on the 1972 children’s book by Barbara Robinson, The best Christmas pageant ever There is a classic American story that illustrates the non-commercial meaning of the holiday. Working from a screenplay by Ryan Swanson, Platt Clark and Darren McDaniel, Jenkins (who is best known for Chosena historical drama about the life of Jesus) creates a story that moves unsteadily between violence and a kind of emotional sterility.

The film comes to life when it explores the petty grievances of the town, or the relationship between the protagonist, Beth (Molly Bellewright, playing a younger version of Graham’s narrator) and her mother, Grace (Judy Greer). Draws a diagram. But it lacks the same dynamism when it turns its attention to the Herdmans, who increasingly seem like ciphers for the film’s ecclesiastical themes.

The action begins when Mrs. Armstrong (Mary Bernstein), the director of Emanuel’s annual Christmas pageant, is injured and is forced to hand over the oversight of this year’s show to Grace, who is disrespected by the other church mothers. Do The film doesn’t detail the dynamics between all the women, but a few moments recall the fish-out-of-water scenes involving Rachel McAdams’ Barbara among the PTA moms in Kelly Fremont-Craig’s Judy Bloom adaptation. Are you God there? It’s me, Margaret. Like Barbara, Grace wants to prove to this judgmental cadre that she can be trusted to uphold this storied tradition. Her relationship with her daughter also echoes Barbara and Margaret, as another reassurance of the mother-daughter bond.

There’s a lot of pressure on this year’s pageant, which is the town’s 75th pageant and doubles as a major fundraising event, so Grace is nervous when the Herdmans bully the main characters. How can she get these notoriously rude kids to comply? She initially brainstorms with her husband Bob (Pat Holmes) and Beth, but the three don’t have to scheme for long. It turns out the story of Jesus is more than enough. Herdman, whose parents were always at work, never went to church. When six children reluctantly come to Sunday school, lured by the promise of a free meal, they soon find themselves captivated by the story of Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus.

And why wouldn’t they be? As Herdman engages with the biblical narrative, he points out parallels between himself and the Holy Family. Scenes of young staff checking out books in the library and skimming over every word as they see themselves in the pages are reminiscent of gripping stories of how young minds can open up whole worlds to readers.

Imogen, in particular, is empowered by Mary’s story. The young girl, who secretly longs to be considered as delicate and beautiful as popular girl Alice (Lorelei Olivia Mott), realizes that flexibility is her own kind of beauty. Schneider’s performance as the unruly Pretene, whose rough edges hide a softer, more sincere side, makes Imogen’s transformation easy to buy. But it also highlights a disturbing sense of incompleteness when it comes to Herdman’s story. The best Christmas pageant ever It never gets down to its most poignant moments as Imogen and her siblings remain stubbornly distant.

While Jenkins provides glimpses of the lives of these children. The best Christmas pageant evera more sustained focus — more background on the parents’ absence, or more insight into the Herdmans’ daily routine — would have positively complicated the film. This could indicate how much of the townspeople’s hatred of the tribe stems from classism, and how rejecting difference contradicts the principles they claim to believe in. About how the true meaning of Christmas is shaped by community.