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Joshua (2002)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 4.2/10
Reviews Counted: 23
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 18

Joshua is well-intentioned, but too heavy-handed.

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 4
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 1

Joshua is well-intentioned, but too heavy-handed.

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Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 2,731

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Movie Info

A mysterious stranger brings both spiritual comfort and a certain level of distrust to a small community in this drama based on the spiritual best-seller by Joseph Girzone. A mysterious man named Joshua (Tony Goldwyn) arrives in the small Midwestern town of Auburn sometime in the late 19th century. Joshua sets up a carpentry shop in Auburn, and soon develops a reputation for his kind and unselfish nature; after bad weather nearly destroys a church in the town's African-American neighborhood,

G, 1 hr. 30 min.

Drama

Directed By: Jon Purdy

Written By: Brad Mirman

In Theaters: Apr 19, 2002 Wide

On DVD: Oct 22, 2002

Artisan Entertainment

Joshua Trailer & Photos

Cast

Tony Goldwyn
Joshua
F Murray Abraham
Father Tardone
Kurt Fuller
Father Pat Hayes
Stacy Edwards
Maggie
Colleen Camp
Joan Casey
Giancarlo Giannini
The Pope
Kevin Scott Greer
Parishoner

Critic Reviews for Joshua

All Critics (31) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (6) | Rotten (18) | DVD (5)

It's a persuasive spiritual journey, sentimental at times but never hopelessly cloying.

September 19, 2002 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times

| Comment

Kevin Thomas

Los Angeles Times

Top Critic

Christians sensitive to a reductionist view of their Lord as a luv-spreading Dr. Feelgood or omnipotent slacker will feel vastly more affronted than secularists, who might even praise God for delivering such an instant camp classic.

June 12, 2002 Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly

| Comment

Chris Willman

Entertainment Weekly

Top Critic

Overall, it's a very entertaining, thought-provoking film with a simple message: God is love.

April 18, 2002 Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News

| Comment

Al Brumley

Dallas Morning News

Top Critic

The film falls short on tension, eloquence, spiritual challenge -- things that have made the original New Testament stories so compelling for 20 centuries.

September 20, 2002 Comment

James D. Davis

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

The script covers huge, heavy topics in a bland, surfacey way that doesn't offer any insight into why, for instance, good things happen to bad people.

September 19, 2002 Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press

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Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)

St. Paul Pioneer Press

Ultimately, we're left with 90 minutes worth of good intentions and sweet sentiments that never coalesce into an involving story.

July 29, 2002 Full Review Source: Kalamazoo Gazette

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James Sanford

Kalamazoo Gazette

What would Jesus do if He was a film director? He'd create a movie better than this.

July 5, 2002 Full Review | Comment

Jeffrey Bruner

Des Moines Register

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Audience Reviews for Joshua

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This is a wonderful, warm modern parable, based on a book by joseph Girzone, who has a series of book based on Joshua, which transilated means jesus. If you are religous, you will truely enjoy this movie, and even if you aren't, has important lessons for all of us.

July 1, 2007