Nativity! posterChristmas is just around the corner and everybody's feeling a little bit festive. Which can only work in the favour of new Brit comedy, Nativity!, out on Friday starring Martin Freeman from The Office and Ashley Jensen from Extras and Ugly Betty. So will this fill you with Christmas cheer - or is it a bit of a turkey?

Find out now... Nativity! posterNativity! (U)

Starring: Martin Freeman, Marc Wootton, Ashley Jensen, Jason Watkins
Director: Debbie Isitt
Film length: 106 minutes

In a nutshell: Debbie Isitt enjoyed a modest hit three years ago with improvised comedy Confetti, about three couples taking part in a wedding-magazine competition for the most original nuptials. Now she turns her attention to the world of school nativity plays. Failed actor Paul Maddens (The Office's Martin Freeman) has settled for a life as a primary school teacher, but has never gotten over losing the girlfriend (Extras/Ugly Betty's Ashley Jensen) who walked out one Christmas and relocated to Hollywood. Now he's been saddled with directing the school nativity play – doesn't anyone remember the painful fiasco he presided over five years ago? When he tells a shameful fib to his former friend and now deadly rival at the local posh school – that Hollywood is coming to see his play – events spiral out of control.

Any good? Isitt knows from TV shows such as Britain's Got Talent and Outnumbered, as well as presumably from real life, that the natural charm, infectious energy and uniquely skewed humour of kids are precious commodities. And endearingly focused on serving the paying public rather than critics, the director leaves no stone unturned, no wish unsatisfied, in her relentless quest to send her audience home happy. Does Mr Maddens clutch victory from the jaws of defeat, inspire his pupils, vanquish his rival and get the girl? Take a guess.

What's not so good? The whole "will Hollywood come?" angle outstays its welcome, as does the nativity musical when it's finally performed. As for the production values, let's just say that any aspiration for a flattering look for Nativity! was subjected to the need to capture the improvised energy of the children. No pausing to spend an hour lighting the next shot, in other words, and the resulting aesthetic is defiantly non-cinematic.

Rating: 7 out of 10.