The Nativity Story
New Line Cinema | Release Date: December 1, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
52
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
15
Negative:
3
Watch Now
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Unfolds in a scrupulously accurate historical adventure story that depicts the world of Jesus' birth with an exciting you-are-there verisimilitude. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
The Nativity Story surprised me. I didn't expect such an obvious art film approach. Yet the Bible, in the King James version, is great English literature. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Isaac's emotional performance as the man who learns to share the woman he loves with the God he worships is profoundly moving and gives the movie its heart. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
By grounding everything that went before in an earthy realism, Hardwicke earns the elevation of the nativity sequence, one of the more beautiful scenes in this year's cinema. Read full review
70
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
At its best, The Nativity Story shares with "Hail Mary" an interest in finding a kernel of realism in the old story of a pregnant teenager in hard times. Buried in the pageantry, in other words, is an interesting movie. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Compared to the crucifixion, the nativity doesn't offer as much inherent drama for secular viewers, but screenwriter Mike Rich (The Rookie) generates a fair amount of suspense by framing the action with Herod's slaughter of the innocents, and the journey of the Three Wise Men supplies a warm comedic subplot. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
It's a handsome production, nicely shot by Elliot Davis on Italian and Moroccan locations, with a performance by Castle-Hughes ("Whale Rider") as the Virgin that's so pleasing and minimalist it could have been lifted from a fresco by Giotto. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
In a real sense, Nativity Story is the female other to Gibson's "Passion": Dedicated to life rather than death, it's suffused with a sense of the womanly divine. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Don't expect a Caravaggio, but if your taste turns to Hallmark, this is a good bet -- a straight-up Nativity story as safe as death and taxes. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Slow, solemn going, despite its best efforts at thundering soldiers and comic-relief kings. Read full review
More From This Movie

52 Critic Reviews

7.6 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 77 Project Hail Mary
2 75 Send Help
3 73 Hoppers
4 72 The Sheep Detectives
5 68 Crime 101
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL