Hayden Kane
There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
danielhm
The book was really not bad but the movie is just neo fundamentalist tripe.They've taken a fairly nuanced and subtle interpretation of a Jesus story and did absolutely nothing interesting with it.The characters hope to be one dimensional when they grow up. The story is very similar to being hit over the head with a brick.Repeatedly.I don't know why they bought the rights to this book and then decided to do absolutely nothing with it.It's a shame.
jmf39531
I saw this movie some years and remember bawling - that's how wonderful it was. Then I saw it being shown on cable TV again so I wanted to see it again and said no way will I bawl again. Well I was wrong. Knowing what was coming I bawled more this time then last. This is how this movie affects you. Its such an uplifting movie with Tony Goldywn performing the best I've ever seen him. My wife and I so enjoyed it and will share it with our children and grandchildren. The music is also so beautiful. I recommend this to people of all ages. It will not disappoint you. after seeing this movie again last night, my wife and will surely watch it again and again. Its that good.
rba154
I have to admit, I went into this film with a bad attitude. Joshua, the book by Joseph Girzone, is among my favorite books. This film was a low-budget, ninety-minute rehash of the base elements. That's what I expected. I was disappointed. As someone that holds Girzone's book in such esteem, I have to ask what on earth he was thinking.The film had very little to with the book. Barely anything, in fact. Names were changed for no apparent reason. My favorite parts of the book, like the conversations between Joshua and the residents, and the debates with the churches were excised entirely. The ending was completely ruined. In the book, it was meant to be a modern-day Jesus, where a man comes to Earth, does his work, and leaves. In the film, they go for a downright pathetic cop-out, trying to be as sugary sweet as possible.But by far the worst thing about the film is Joshua himself, played by Tony Goldwyn. To be frank, he is abysmal. The Joshua of the book was calm, friendly, loving, honest, and above all, wouldn't preach unless he was forced to. In the movie, he's calm, friendly, but in the worst possible way. Honestly, I felt slightly unnerved by Goldwyn's performance. It was like if Klaus Kinski did a ton of morphine before being told to act like a God. It's difficult to explain, and I might not be making sense, but Goldwyn was simply miscast.Really, there is nothing I can recommend the film for. There are really only three types of people who will see this film: The Average Person who will see it, hate it, and forget it, The Christian, who will enjoy it regardless of quality, or the Person Who Loved the Book, and will be invariably disappointed. Regardless of which category you may fall into, I'm wasting my time talking about it. Skip it, and read the book. It's a masterpiece of modern Christian literature.
fnd26
A good uplifting movie, but only remotely similar to the book. Where the book was hard hitting and critical, the movie took the "feel good" path and avoided most of the conflicts. The book challenged you to think about your relationship to others and the church's role in religion, the movie lacked a depth. The characters in the book were much more believable and were presented as real people; warts and all. The movie sanitized many of the character flaws and completely changed the plot line. You were left with a nice story, but most of the believability was gone. I expected a lot more from a movie based on a truly inspirational book.
