"What the film does best is threefold: 1) It creates a believable, growing bond between Mary and Joseph. 2) It unfolds for us the trial it must have been for Mary to explain that her pregnancy wasn't manmade. In director Catherine Hardwicke's words, "I never [before] thought of who Mary and Joseph were as people, as humans, going through things that we all go through in life (self-doubt and trying to figure out what the right thing to do is; if we're ostracized, how to stand up for our beliefs and for our own faith, even if other people don't believe us and don't agree with us." 3) It confronts us with the harsh realities of living, traveling and giving birth 2,000 years ago. These were no plastic crèche figurines arranged on a mantle. These were frail, very young human beings struggling to find their way in life and discern God's will. The journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem becomes the symbol for that, as Mary, Joseph, donkey and in utero Baby jolt their way over hill and dale, rock and river, 100-plus miles away from home and comfort just to be told there's no room for them at the inn." - www.pluggedonline.com
