Nativity centres around a 30/40something primary school teacher who, being a loser in love, has allowed himself to become bitter and resentful towards his pupils.

Needless to say he needs to win back the love of his life and re-find his love for his job, and people in general.

It comfortably falls back on the rich British heritage for nicey nice romcoms and does a fair job. Not one aspect of any of the characters came as any surprise or helped to enrich a two dimensional plot - but who cares, its a Christmas heartwarmer and it does its job well.

Marc Wootton, in particular, was excellent as Mr Poppy and both his visual performance and his well drawn out character were responsible for the majority for the laughs - the remainder falling on the narrow shoulders of a funny looking kid, well cast for his comedic value, but possessed of a face that I was sick of seeing after 90 minutes of obvious set ups, but then that's probably because I'm as misanthropic as the lead character!

I took my seven year old daughter, and she absolutely loved it. If you're not a parent and hate children, this is definitely not for you. If, on the other hand, you love Christmas and still have a tender, warm spot in your heart then you could do a lot worse than to go and see this.

I don't get the level of hate this series of films seem to get, they're lighthearted, and make me laugh out loud.

Yes, you have to be in the mood for a bit of daftness, but let yourself go and have a bit of fun!

The first one in particular is really good, with a superb cast (it's like a who's who of British actors!), and Marc Wootton's Mr Poppy is a great comedy character. It's very, very British in tone which I love.

As for the kids, I don't find them annoying, which is unusual for me, so a big plus there!

Give the films a go, you might be pleasantly surprised.

Primary school teacher Paul Maddens is charged with producing the school's nativity play.

Competing against the posh rival school for the honour of best reviewed show in town, the stakes are raised when Paul boasts that his ex-girlfriend Jennifer, a Hollywood Producer, is coming to see his show with a view to turning it into a film.

With assistant Mr Poppy fuelling his lie, Maddens suddenly finds himself a local celebrity and at the centre of parents and over-excited children desperate for fame and fortune.

Maddens' only hope is to get back in touch with Jennifer and lure Hollywood to town....

To be honest, the poster for this movie put me right off. I make a rule of not seeing a film where the star is surrounded by kids looking slightly perplexed, see also Daddy Day Care.

But my daughter dragged me to see the sequel, and that wasn't too bad, so I thought 'why not'.

And to be fair, it's a really fun film, not a Christmas classic by any means, but clever, and funny.

And kudos to the makers, if there is any truth to the fact that the majority of this was improvised.

Freeman is as good as always, if being a little too much like Tim from the office, but he has great chemistry with the children, and they are endearing also.

It's predictable, but who cares, it's a Christmas movie and it does its job of making you feel gooey inside and happy with the world for at least five minutes after the film has finished.