JOSHUA

[abcdefz]

Oh, yeah -- Joshua (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/joshua/)'s a pretty good movie. Some good moments. The kid's good, the mom's good, Sam Rockwell's good, the lady who was one of the dead kids' mom in Dead Man Walking was mmmmmmokay, but mainly 'cause her role kinda sucked.

Matinee money. 6.66/10.

[trailerprincess]

I thought this was going to be an appreciation of the Dolly Parton song 'Joshua':(

[abcdefz]

I haven't heard enough Dolly Parton. Don't know why.

"Coat of Many Colors" just came up the other day. I am woeful in the Dolly Paton Department.

[abcdefz]

Joshua could've maybe been a really great movie. The basic setup isn't very unfamiliar -- spooky prodigy boy (maybe 10 years old) gets spookier when mom and dad bring home new baby girl. Things go from there.

But for a while, it's almost like the kid's a barometer rather than the actual instrument of whatever's pressing on the pulse of the family. You can't tell if he's actually doing anything other than just being the self-described "weird son" or if he's involved. There's one moment in a park that I wish hadn't happened, because it gives things away too soon.

But the stuff that happens, by and large -- it's not like The Omen, where these external forces come attacking; it's more like things unraveling that were already problems, just exacerbated. I can imagine it's what new-baby-nightmare or -rivalry can maybe look like.

Worth seeing, even if it doesn't totally work.

[abcdefz]

Ah -- the wife was the psychiatrist in The Departed. I knew I'd seen her somewhere.