Why You’ll Love THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER
Movieguide® Contributor
THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER’s cast and crew are here to tell you why this is a movie families won’t want to miss.
“Might be the first Christmas pageant in history where Joseph and the wise men get in a fight and Mary hightails it with the baby,” actress Judy Greer joked. “The whole movie is inspiring, like a bigger picture story about welcoming the other.”
Movieguide® reported:
“The film centers on the Herdman kids, who are the absolute worst,” Deadline summarizes. “They lie, they steal, they bully…and they’ve hijacked the town Christmas pageant. As the rowdy and raucous siblings force themselves into all of the lead roles, they drive the pageant’s director, Grace (Judy Greer), and other members of her family, including husband Bob (Pete Holmes), up the wall. But through their misfit mischief, these unlikely messengers might turn out to be the ones to deliver the town’s sensational and moving portrayal of the true meaning of Christmas.”
“THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER is warm and funny and one of my favorite stories I’ve ever come across,” the movie’s director, Dallas Jenkins said.
“I think this movie is for people like me who grew up loving Christmas and loving the story of Christmas and then grown-ups like me who can sometimes lose touch with that,” said actor Pete Holmes.
The movie is based on the classic book of the same name by Barbara Robinson.
“This book right here is very special to a lot of people,” said Jenkins with the original book in hand, “and I believe it’s perfect and beautiful, and that means I have a big responsibility to get this movie right.”
“We’ve seen obviously a lot of romance about Christmas and seen a ton of comedy Christmas and Santa Christmas, but I haven’t really seen a movie that could reach all the demographics like a Nativity Christmas Story,” Greer said.
Producer Daryl Lefever says the movie is for anyone who loves the “nostalgic” feeling of Christmas.
Co-producer Katelyn Botsch said, “It’s another story where the church can come together and love people that they may not see as someone that looks like them or sounds like them but it’s a story about the Christmas story being for every person no matter what they look like how they act who they are.”
“There is way more to somebody that meets the eye,” said actress Molly Belle Wright.
Producer Kevin Downs said the movie hits key entertainment points with laughter, family togetherness and the true meaning of Christmas.
Actress Beatrice Schneider said, “I think that THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER is really about community and people being quick to judge other people because of things that you really shouldn’t judge people on.”
Jenkins said, “Hidden in this story of humor is this extremely profound message that you get closer to Christmas when you are seeing it through the eyes of the disadvantaged and through the setting of poverty….I think THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER can fit into so many audiences right now who are thinking, ‘I want real. I want nostalgic. I want timeless. I want something that I want to watch multiple times and that I can share with my kids and that reminds me of things that I’ve always loved.’”
“If you give a person love and attention and respect then they seem to blossom more than others that are ignored and when the Herdmans blossom, it’s amazing.”
Greer says she hopes the message and emotion of the movie will “stick around” its viewers after they watch it.
“A story like this can open your heart,” said Holmes. “It’s one of the powerful things about the book and I hope it’s one of the powerful things about the movie is just a reminder that everybody’s invited to the party.”
GILMORE GIRLS’ Lauren Graham and members from THE CHOSEN — Kirk B.R. Woller, Vanessa Benavente and Elizabeth Tabish — will also make an appearance in the movie.
“Graham will play the pic’s the narrator in addition to making a key on-screen cameo,” Deadline reported. “Woller, Benavente and Tabish respectively play Reverend Hopkins, a first-grade teacher, and church lady Mrs. Grady. Peru native Benavente played Mother Mary in The Chosen, while Tabish portrayed Mary Magdalene.
THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER will come to theaters just in time for the holidays on Nov. 8.