‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’ Review: Town Terrors Get Tamed in a Fresh Take on the Kid-Lit Classic
variety.comDennis Harvey Film Critic Initially a magazine short story, then expanded to novel form in 1972, Barbara Robinson’s “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” has remained a holiday staple ever since.
Its enjoyable central conceit of Roald Dahl-style comedic nastiness — the first sentence pegs principal figures as “absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world” — no doubt explains an enduring popularity among young readers, while there’s just enough inspirational uplift by the end to earn parental approval.
That equation gets reversed to a degree in this first big-screen version from Dallas Jenkins, whose Biblical-times series “The Chosen” set a high mark among faith-based entertainments for the small screen in recent years.
His “Pageant” goes a little too sentimental and instructive too soon for those viewers whose attention spans are better suited to the antic earlier going.
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