'The Best Christmas Pageant Ever': Talking Heart With Dallas Jenkins

A family comedy opening Friday, Nov. 8, in theaters, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever starts the holiday season by reminding audiences what really matters. At times ridiculous and reverent, the film is a passion project for director Dallas Jenkins, creator of hit TV series The Chosen.

“I really wanted to make a classic Christmas movie that delivers on all the beats — the humor, the heart, the nostalgia,” Jenkins told me in an interview. “And the message reflects the heart of the Gospel, though it doesn't feel like a sermon.”

What is The Best Christmas Pageant Ever about?

An adaptation of the classic 1972 grade-school novel by Barbara Robinson -- also made into a 1983 TV special with M*A*S*H star Loretta Swit, and several stage adaptations -- the film starts as residents of picture-perfect "every town" Emmanuel are preparing to stage their 75th Annual Christmas Pageant.

Concurrently, audiences get to know the “absolutely worst kids in the history of the world": the Herdmans.

The six Herdman siblings clash with fellow schoolchildren with their name-calling, bullying, coarse language — even a scene of smoking by a young teen. Adults turn a blind eye to their antics . . . until, through a series of events, the Herdmans are cast in key roles in the town’s “sacred” play.

Critics and early audiences have been wowed by the movie’s high-caliber production values and its willingness to, as Jenkins says, challenge "religiosity" and hypocrisy that tempt the faithful.

"We showed that the church was missing the point," said Jenkins. "There is a strong message here for the church. Sometimes we take things for granted. Sometimes we look too negatively towards outsiders, and we need to realize that there is room at the inn."

Using a lighthearted holiday flick as its starting point, the laughs are all in service of richly textured messages about compassion and why the advent of Christ matters.

Seeing beyond a bully’s antics

The film stars Judy Greer (The Wedding Planner) as suburban mom Grace; comedian Pete Holmes (Crashing) as her husband Bob; Kirk B.R. Woller (The Chosen) as Reverend Hopkins.

Two actresses who portray key character Beth, daughter of Grace, at two different ages. In the style of A Christmas Story, beloved TV star Lauren Graham narrates the film — looking back on her childhood self, played by effervescent Molly Belle Wright. She also makes an on-screen appearance.

Jenkins is effusive about casting Graham, saying, “She's got that beautiful blend of comedy and emotion that was so great in Gilmore Girls and Parenthood and all her projects, that really lent itself to this film.

He adds, "The narrator allows us to see in such a funny but heartfelt way, what this story is from the eyes of a child.”

The Herdmans’ reign of terror extends from school to church, unfolding with an ensemble of child actors hamming it up. Big sister Imogene Herdman, played by standout Beatrice Schneider, makes sure she’s cast as Mary — or else, she threatens a “knuckle sandwich.”

It takes a turn when a few classmates discover the Herdmans live in poverty, with an overworked mom they barely see, while their dad is out of the picture.

“Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to humanity,” said Jenkins. “Some of the characters in this movie don't want to get to know the Herdmans. The surface is enough.”

Yet the book and now this film urge audiences to look past preconceived ideas about others. “Let's try to see why they are the way they are," says Jenkins, "and maybe understanding can help connect with them better.”

Seeing the Nativity through new eyes

While the unruly Herdmans are primary antagonists, a group of traditional and unbending church women plays into the conflict, too.

An accident forces the church’s longtime pageant director to hand her role to Grace, but the elder woman still wants to approve every detail. Sparks fly with the casting of the Herdman kids.

Jenkins defended how the church ladies’ mean streak is portrayed.

“I don't think we're doing this story justice if we pretend like church people, good; non-church people, bad; Christians, good; non-Christians, bad; adults, good; kids, bad,” he said. “That's not always accurate.”

By the end, these women — and moviegoers — come to see the power and surprise of the Nativity as never before. Things go awry in the Herdmans’ play, but it underlines realities of the Holy Family’s perilous, difficult journey.

"When you have experienced poverty, especially as a child, you might actually be closer to the truth of the Christmas story than others are,” said Jenkins.

He adds that Jesus came “as a suffering servant, not a conquering king. His parents were refugees. They were outsiders. And I think that that's an important message for those of us who maybe have taken the Christmas story for granted."

From the mesmerizing way the play is presented, to the reverent appreciation for Mary, to even Blake Shelton’s rousing rendition of “Go Tell It On the Mountain” over the credits, it’s evident how much care went into making The Best Christmas Pageant Ever a memorable experience.

“The message of the Gospel is summed up in six words, which are the last six words of the book and the last six words of the movie: Unto you a child is born.”

He concluded that they wanted “to keep that message simple, so that when you walk away from this movie, you’re wrestling with the truth of it.”