Journey to Bethlehem

What if you re-imagined life before Jesus. And then attempted to sanitize the idea that Mary was an ambitious post-teen who had aspirations to be a teacher but accepts the task of being a surrogate to Mom to God. Typing this out loud I laugh to myself how silly it may sound. And perhaps that's what the moviemakers thought too. So they inject it with non-memorable songs. But they're so semi-polished to the budget from a studio that pumps its money into Marvel stuff and reserves some dough to throw at faith based flicks like this. Yes, it's clearly a religious movie. I mean, it IS about Jesus. But it doesn't necessarily slap you across the face with it. They astutely let you have some fun with it. With some pratfalls and silly humor, they did something smart and NOT take it all that seriously.

However, it still stops short of being all that interesting. Antonio Banderas plays King Herod with great evil fun. He knows what movie he wants to be in and commits to some bizarre behavior that taps into madness.

Look, the stakes are very low in this flick. They dump all the ugliness and violence of those days and gives you an abridge overview of the "Greatest Story Ever Told" Take this statement for what its worth.

If not for the stunning Fiona Palomo who plays Mary, it's hard to say the flick is all that watchable. It seemed a little bit...cheap. Obviously this is a budgeted piece that whiffs at Hallmark Holiday level flicks. There is nothing particularly dramatic. Fiona plays Mary sweet and innocent. With wide-eyes and wholesome quality, it's really hard to NOT like this movie.

It's a good flick to fill boredom during the holidays but I didn't find it all that re-watchable.