Having successfully detailed tearaway teens in Thirteen and Lords Of Dogtown, director Catherine Hardwicke tackles two more runaway yoofs — Joseph and Mary — in this well-mounted but staid retelling of Christ’s birth.
All the old plot points are present and correct (although here the three wise men offer comic relief), and Hardwicke’s storytelling is both credible and occasionally beautiful. But, while Isaac and Castle-Hughes are a likeable couple, Hardwicke fails to illuminate the humanity behind the picture-book characters, doing little to energise the story; surprising given her rebellious credentials.
