I had no idea that The Best Christmas Pageant Ever was even a thing until I saw a poster at my local theater. Well, I say “poster” My theater has done away with the classic posters and they just have these screens that rotate movie posters, anyway, I saw it advertised and was interested in it. I love Christmas movies and when one actually gets a theatrical release, I always want to check it out.
How to Download The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever was released on November 8, 2024. You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. If you like xxxx, check out also his other films- film one and film two.
The Movie Review
A Surprising Faith-Based Message
I had no idea that this was a Christian faith-based kind of movie. I have seen many faith-based movies, some of them are really good… some not so much. I would certainly say that The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is one of the better faith-based movies I have seen recently. It does not hit you over the head with it and I would say that at its core, the real message here is community and love.
Meet the Bradley Family
We have the Bradley family which consists of mom Grace and dad Bob. Grace and Bob are played by Judy Greer (who I love) and Pete Holmes. They also have two kids, I loved the family dynamic here. There is a scene at the dinner table where the son asks if someone died and Bob’s reply legit cracked me up.
A Christmas Pageant with a Twist
The town that they live in takes their Christmas pageant very seriously. This is a special year as it will be the 75th Christmas pageant and for some reason, Grace decides that she wants to be the director this year. Pretty much right away, she realizes what a big job this is, and pretty much everyone in the town and the church are sticking their noses in.
The Herdmans Join the Fun
However, the real twist here is that The Herdmans who are regarded as the worst family ever, want to be in the pageant. All six of them are going to be in the pageant and these kids are always getting into trouble and the church and the town do not think that they should be part of the pageant.
Grace though thinks differently and she realizes that there is more to the Herdmans than people realize. We get to see each of the Herdman kids get a moment or two to shine and we also see that they do not have a great home life and that there is far more to them than the troublemakers we are led to believe that they are. The movie really is about the spirit of Christmas and the spirit of community as it all comes together to try and make this The Best Christmas Pageant Ever!
A Big Cast with Big Heart
With us having the six kids in the Herdman family and the four people in the Bradley family, not to mention the other characters. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever has a rather big cast, but I think that they do a good enough job making sure we get to know the main players well enough.
A Fun, But Not Classic, Christmas Film
Now, I am not sure that I would say this is an all time Christmas classic like Christmas Vacation, Gremlins, Scrooged, The Muppet Christmas Carol, or Home Alone, but I still enjoyed this. I kind of wish that I saw this in December instead of November as I think it would have hit me with the Christmas feels more. Hey, I am pretty sure that this is a movie that I will watch again next Christmas.
