Combine a hint of Hitchcock style horror, a dash of domestic disturbance, and a pinch of post partum depression. Stir in some sibling rivalry, finish off with some elementary evil, and you’ve got a recipe for: a George Ratliff film which basks in the initial brilliance of dark comedy, wavers in grueling indecision, and finally rushes it’s antichrist like child villain to what I’d say is quite the anti-conclusion.
Joshua is a film which falls into the unofficial genre of the oh-so-close-to-being wonderful. The plot centers around the young, city dwelling Cairn family: the husband on Wall Street (Sam Rockwell), the wife at home (Vera Farmiga), their infant daughter, and their piano prodigy son, Joshua (Jacob Kogan.) The arrival of newborn Lily shakes the foundation of the family, resurrecting mother Abby’s baby blues, and worst of all, igniting a violent and vindictive evil in nine year old Joshua. As his parents catch on to how much of a sociopath Joshua has become, they each loose touch with their own grip on reality.
‘Joshua’ is Jacob Kogan’s breakout role, and just like any movie villain, Joshua’s character requires an actor who can fill some pretty big shoes. I suppose I am most critical of young actors’ portrayals of crazy kids; after all, there have been some good ones (Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense comes to mind.) The bar for this kind of role has been set pretty high, out of reach for most child stars. Kogan certainly has the look for the part, the startlingly adult looking face that’s suitably awkward on such a tiny little body. But beyond Kogan’s precocious appearance, there isn’t much depth to his performance; a lot of staring, blinking, blunt and sometimes perverse remarks – all of this amounts to little more than stock character crazy.
For the most part, Joshua was able to steer clear of the cliché. The movie had a lot of fresh takes on old Hollywood horror staples like television static. There are some truly startlingly creepy scenes, brilliantly executed by Vera Farmiga in particular. Joshua did give me chills - legitimate, lasting, run-from-my-head-to-my-toes chills, and (since this is rare for me) that says much for the scare factor in this film.
Joshua seemed to go on forever, and while unnecessary screen time is a problem in itself; it’s also the symptom of many other moviemaking issues: poor character development, underdeveloped themes, blurred vision, etc. Three quarters of the way through, I had this image of Joshua’s writers grappling, grasping for something, anything else for their characters to do. In the end, I was disappointed in a conclusion that just didn’t amount to the grand scale finale the rest of this film deserved.
Liz Licorish
Comments directed to: LizFlix@elitestv.com
