Nativity Rocks!

source: Nativity Rocks!

We love all the nativity films, great fun! The only reason I can see for a low score is that some people take life too seriously. It is what it is, a fun Christmas film!

Jerry Poppy arrives at St Bernadette's Primary School looking for his brother Desmond, only to find he has gone to Australia. Jerry immediately feels at home as he gets involved with creating a Christmas rock opera for Coventry. However, egotistical Emanuel Cavendish is directing, so all may not go well. This is the fourth in the series of Christmas Nativity films written and directed by Debbie Isitt, all of them built round the exploits of idiot man-child Mr Poppy at St Bernadette's. We have a new Mr Poppy this time, but he's as much of an idiot as his predecessor. Let's be brutal - these films aren't very good. The stories are naive twaddle, Mr Poppy, whether Desmond or Jerry, is a ridiculous caricature and wouldn't be allowed near a classroom of primary school children, the children themselves are not at the talented end of the scale as child performers, the songs are fairly naff... And it's worth pointing out that Craig Revell Horwood as baddie Cavendish, is lucky that he didn't have acting judges commenting on his performance. But there is a gauche naive charm to these films. They are full of heart, there is no harm to them, and they are often funny, albeit on a lowest common denominator level. I could have done without the vaguely leftists "Support illegal immigrants" subtext in this one, but the family message is a good one. These films are a guilty pleasure.

Pretty painful to watch but I can imagine it appealing to some children as pure pantomime. The acting is generally terrible and the story is quite preposterous. If you have nothing else to watch and don't need to dedicate more than a few brain cells to this then it's OK but otherwise you'll never feel like you've missed out on not seeing this.