Nativity!

Nativity! is a 2009 British Christmas musical comedy film directed by Debbie Isitt and released on 27 November 2009 and the first instalment in the Nativity franchise.

Plot
Paul, a primary school teacher, is asked to produce the year's nativity play. Hilarity ensues when Paul lies to his opponent that a Hollywood producer will be turning the play into a movie.

Nativity! Qualities

 * 1) Good premise about a moody teacher, Paul Maddens, who is tasked with running a school play with a childish teaching assistant Mr. Poppy, then lies to his rival, Gordon Shakespeare, about turning his play into a movie with the help of a Hollywood producer.
 * 2) Funny memorable characters:
 * 3) *Mr. Maddens, the stern and moody primary school teacher.
 * 4) **Speaking of Mr. Maddens, his backstory can be rather sympathetic, with his girlfriend, Jennifer, breaking up with him at Christmas, being the reason why he's seen as moody in the first place.
 * 5) *Mr. Poppy, the childish, dim yet hilarious teaching assistant, and brilliant, charming comic-relief type character.
 * 6) *All the school pupils!
 * 7) A lot of funny other scenes here and there, such as the rivalries between the St Bernadette's pupils and the Oakmoor students.
 * 8) Nice soundtrack from Debbie Isitt and Nicky Ager.
 * 9) The input Christmas songs nicely fit in with the festive genre.
 * 10) The film was inspired by Debbie going to see her daughter Sydney in her school nativity and is completely improvised for this movie.
 * 11) Great casting choices, a prime example being Martin freeman as Paul Maddens.
 * 12) Funny acting all round from most of the cast.
 * 13) The climax is just beautiful. The school children of St Bernadette's perform their memorable Mary and Joseph play with the help of Mr. Poppy, and the musical numbers sung are just cutely remarkable!
 * 14) *'Good News' especially is arguably the best out of the songs sung.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The franchise arguably went downhill after this first instalment, with the second movie being not that good.
 * 2) Dodgy and juvenile attempts at humour, with burp jokes being mostly present.
 * 3) Some Characters, such as Mr. Shakespeare may be unlikable at times.
 * 4) Occasional filler, though thankfully not too much of it.
 * 5) A few instances of cringeworthy moments such as a few in the climax/final Nativity play scene and a few of Mr. Poppy's antics.

Critical Reception
On release, the film was a critical and commercial success, and was met with mixed-to-positive reviews from general audiences and critics, spawning a full-on franchise. The film has a 6.4/10 rating on IMDb.

Trivia

 * The film was first announced in August 2008, when it was announced Martin Freeman would star. Principal photography began in the same month.
 * Most of the film is improvised, with the producers telling the actors what would happen in the scene, and the actors acting it out, with no script.
 * Funnily enough, Pam Ferris previously played a headmistress in Matilda (1996), Miss Trunchbull.
 * Seven years later, Debbie Isitt was behind a stage musical version of the film.

Videos
The Movie

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Reviews

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