Joshua (2001)
Although nowhere near as bad as "The
Judas Project" (1993), "Joshua" is again a film
that tries to somewhat retell the New Testament in modern
terms. Here Joshua, a woodworker, comes seemingly from
nowhere to a small town and begins winning over the
local townsfolk with his simplistic approach to life
and genuine good heart. When the townsfolk notice that
Joshua can seemingly be in 4 places at once, they prophetically
proclaim it a "miracle."
Of course, Joshua further proves his amazing grace
by healing a blind woman and bringing a bulky African-American
man back to life (and healing his speech impediment
in the process). He also rebuilds a church, heals a
marriage, heals a woman's heart (by metaphorically transforming
the shattered glass she used to metaphorically explain
her shattered life into a pretty glass object d'art),
brings a disillusioned priest back to his flock, saves
a "lost" young teenage boy with the power of music and,
finally, makes whole the loveless and jaded heart of
a Catholic priest. And all in just 90 minutes!
"Joshua" wants you to question whether Joshua is the
second coming of Christ or not. By the end of its anti-climax,
the film has already told you what to believe. There
is no mystery here. And who does Joshua see at the end
of the film? Why none other than Giancarlo Giannini
as the Pope. The Pope is so hot.
Based on a so-called "popular" novel by Joseph Girzone,
"Joshua" seems to be aimed at 12 year-olds. It's message
of simplistic grace and open-heartedness is simply handled
to much like a made-for-TV movie to ever be taken seriously
here. The script by Brad Mirman and Keith Giglio shows
no intelligence let alone any grace or style. The poorly
produced film is directed by Jon Purdy and is obviously
aimed at a television audience. Its pacing and editing
cuts the film up into easily digestible portions that
would flow just as well if interrupted every 8 minutes
or so for a station break. The film, to put it bluntly,
looks like shit and is edited with the finesse of a
truck driver.
"Joshua" does have some solid acting in the performances
by Tony Goldwyn and F.Murray Abraham. But actors like
Kurt Fuller and Collen Camp seem stymied by the piece,
fluctuating from honest and sincere to just plain bad
at the drop of a hat. Fuller (the poor man's John de
Lancie) actually has to deliver the line, "I suck as
a priest." He has my pity.
The music in the film, by Christian rocker (now that's
an oxymoron) Michael W. Smith is as ham-handed as a
man born with a pork butt for a fist. The Christian
pop songs in the film come blaring out of nowhere with
the most insipid lyrics ever written and the most whiney
singing I've heard since Michael Bolton put his hand
in the garbage disposal. My eardrums asked for a refund!
The telling of the second coming of Christ should
have heart and love and joy of life. "Joshua" wants
to have these attributes, but unfortunately it relies
on hacks who don't even understand the concept of writing
and film production to tell the tale. If Jesus were
to come back, here's hoping he inspires someone like
David Fincher or P.T. Anderson to help him spread the
word. Surely he wouldn't go to the hacks at network
TV, would he? Here, the second coming looks like a TV
movie made for a religious cable outlet. Surely Jesus
knows better.
Note:
There are several books in the "Joshua" series and
sequels are planned.
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Report
Card
Script:
F
Acting: C+
Cinematography\Lighting: D-
Special Effects\Make Up: F
Music: F
Final
Grade: F
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