Beginning roughly one year before the birth of Christ, the film starts with the announcement of the birth of John the Baptist and then shows the lives of Mary and Joseph, from just before their marriage, to the visit from Gabriel telling Mary (and later Joseph) of the expected birth, their travel to Bethlehem, the travels of the wise men, the plans of King Herod to retain his power no matter what, and ultimately the birth of Christ and their journey to Egypt.
Definitely the two standouts in the acting department are the portrayals of Mary and Joseph, given by Keisha Castle-Hughes and Oscar Isaac. Mary comes across as a complete human being, initially like any other girl of her age and time, but upon learning of Christ's birth, is concerned with what will happen (in more ways than one) and despite her concerns, continues to have faith.
Of the two, however, the portrayal of Joseph stands out the most because so little is known about Joseph's life as compared to Mary's. Joseph also comes across as a complete human being, a regular, hard-working man of faith who is decent, fair, honest, responsible, tough when necessary, has a sense of humor and can show anger as well as being hurt.
The supporting cast does a good job in backing up the lead actors, especially the three actors who play the wise men (Nadim Sawalha, Eriq Ebouaney & Stefan Kalipha) and who provide the lion's share of lighthearted moments in the film, and Ciaran Hinds as a ruthless, heartless dictatorial King Herod.
The film itself, written by Mike Rich and directed by Catherine Hardwicke (yes, of Twilight fame), is beautifully told and presented in a compressed narrative (the wise men, it is deduced, didn't arrive in Bethlehem until the Christ child was about two years old), and supported by an equally beautiful musical score. It's hard for me to think of any other film about the birth of Christ I'd watch during the Christmas season than The Nativity Story. I give it three and a half (of four) stars.
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