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Movies / On DVD / Joshua
Joshua

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Joshua (2007)

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Reviews Counted:95

Fresh:59

Rotten:36

Average Rating:6.3/10

Consensus: Though Joshua is ultimately too formulaic, its intelligence and suspenseful buildup heighten the overall creep factor.

Rated: R

Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Theatrical Release:2007

Box Office: $442,201

Synopsis: Brad (Sam Rockwell) and Abby Cairn (Vera Farmiga) seem to have it all. A successful Manhattan couple living in a plush uptown apartment, they have just welcomed their second child into the... Brad (Sam Rockwell) and Abby Cairn (Vera Farmiga) seem to have it all. A successful Manhattan couple living in a plush uptown apartment, they have just welcomed their second child into the family--a lovely little girl named Lily. Everything should be golden for the happy family, but their little boy--the nine-year-old Joshua (Jacob Kogan)--is less than pleased with the latest addition to the family. An intelligent but odd little boy, Joshua's lack of humor and preoccupation with death belie his tender age, and as the parents coo over Lily, it becomes clear that they are not quite sure what to make of their stone-faced son. When Lily suddenly turns from a quiet baby into one who mysteriously begins wailing day and night, the Cairns' ordered life quickly disintegrates. The lack of sleep and stress takes a heavy toll on the mentally fragile Abby, and Brad begins racing around the city trying to care for his newborn daughter, ailing wife, and emotionally disturbed son. The family stress mounts, and when small animals and the family dog turn up dead, it doesn't take long before fingers begin pointing at the brooding and bizarre Joshua. Vera Farmiga delivers a realistic and disturbing performance as someone tottering at the edge of emotional collapse, and Sam Rockwell is a true pleasure to watch in his turn as a father desperately trying to hold his life together. Using a slow, teasing pace and claustrophobic camera angles, the film strives for a Hitchockian level of suspense while also delivering many topnotch performances. [More]

Starring: Jacob Kogan, Sam Rockwell, Vera Farmiga, Celia Weston

Starring: Jacob Kogan, Sam Rockwell, Vera Farmiga, Celia Weston, Dallas Roberts, Michael McKean

Director: George Ratliff

Director: George Ratliff
Screenwriter: George Ratliff, David Gilbert
Producer: Johnathan Dorfman
Composer: Nico Muhly
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures

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Release:

Sep 15, 2009

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Reviews for Joshua

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21 - 40 (sorted by date)
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It's subtle and it's terrific.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
07/19/07
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

The contrived script expects us to believe that Joshua's fainting spells, his nocturnal home videos of his sleeping family and his acts of violence on crowded New York City streets fail to raise suspicion until it is too late.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
07/19/07
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune

Watch this movie on a night when you don't think you need birth control.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
07/18/07
Dan Lybarger
Dan Lybarger
eFilmCritic.com

There's a definite "Bad Seed" vibe going on in this sophisticated psychological thriller that unfolds with such precision you'll want to see it a second time just to catch its many degrees of nuanced escalation.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
07/17/07
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

I'm reluctant to give away too much about this terrifically tidy thriller as I think an audience should be able to watch a film without knowing the twists and surprises that the filmmakers intend.

Full Review Source: Murphy's Movie Reviews | comment Comment
07/14/07
Ted Murphy
Ted Murphy
Murphy's Movie Reviews

A trippy film that falls somewhere between tired genre picture, hilarious satire and ingenious game of cat-and-mouse.

Full Review Source: Zertinet Movies | comment Comment
07/14/07
Steven Snyder
Steven Snyder
Zertinet Movies

A haunting and evocative motion picture that stays with you.

Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com | comment Comment
07/14/07
Dustin Putman
Dustin Putman
DustinPutman.com

Subtle and sinister - it's evil, yes, but not very scary.

Full Review Source: www.susangranger.com | comment Comment
07/13/07
Susan Granger
Susan Granger
www.susangranger.com

Director George Ratliff has crafted a pretty intelligent film that exploits that conceit without going to the over-the-top extremes as such other bad-seed films as "The Good Son" and, well, "The Bad Seed."

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
07/13/07
Peter Sobczynski
Peter Sobczynski
eFilmCritic.com

Ratliff's movie almost succeeds in hurtling over the trenches it digs for itself in an increasingly ludicrous third act. But not quite.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
07/13/07
Geoff Pevere
Geoff Pevere
Toronto Star
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Fairly absorbing film.

Full Review Source: New Yorker | comment Comment
07/13/07
Shauna Lyon
Shauna Lyon
New Yorker

Spooky, relatively realistic, grounded in psychology rather than displays of gore, it could be just the thing to rejuvenate the fading horror genre.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
07/13/07
John Hartl
John Hartl
Seattle Times

Sickeningly creepy.

Full Review Source: San Jose Mercury News | comment Comment
07/13/07
Bruce Newman
Bruce Newman
San Jose Mercury News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

If you've never wanted to punch a child in the face, see Joshua and discover a whole new side of yourself.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
07/13/07
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A darkly comic, squirm-inducing portrait of everyday familial dysfunction amplified by an unusual element.

Full Review Source: Miami Herald | comment Comment
07/13/07
Rene Rodriguez
Rene Rodriguez
Miami Herald

Fails miserably.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
07/13/07
Jane Stevenson
Jane Stevenson
Jam! Movies

A fascinating, if chilling, break from the season's usual summer movie thrills -- especially for parents-to-be.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
07/13/07
Jennie Punter
Jennie Punter
Globe and Mail
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Writer-director George Ratliff may have intended to make a movie no one would enjoy. He's succeeded.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
07/13/07
Tom Long
Tom Long
Detroit News

An unnerving thriller that has a lot more on its maniacal mind than giving us the willies.

Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
07/13/07
Terry Lawson
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

At once familiar and yet startlingly inventive and thrilling.

Full Review Source: Associated Press | comment Comment
07/13/07
Christy Lemire
Christy Lemire
Associated Press
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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