Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Movie Review: Joshua

This is supposed to be one of those "Omen" knockoffs. It failed.

What we have is a nine year old, Young Republican, sociopath whose parents have just had their second kid. Shorted of their attention Joshua starts trying to drive his mother nuts. He makes the baby cry and cry and cry knowing that the nonstop crying will drive his mother into a deep depression. She gets meds for it and he messes with her meds. He pulls some disappearing baby stunts and some "get mommy to lock herself in a pitch black construction area" stunts to make her look like the bad guy and make her even more nuts.

Grandma comes by to help with the baby after Mom gets hurt. Joshua uses her fundamentalist Christian beliefs to turn her and his parents against each other. He pulls some disappearing acts on her. Makes her look bad. Then pushes her down a flight of stairs.

By now Dad is starting to figure out that it's Joshua that's doing this. He has to start installing locks on the cabinets so Joshua can't doctor the baby's formula. He has the baby sleep in his bedroom with the door locked. He has Joshua meet with a shrink who Joshua makes think Dad is beating him. Finally, he pushes Dad into beating him in public.

There's also a dozen or so dead animals over the course of the movie.

The movie ends with Joshua starting in on his uncle.

This is all me reading a lot into the movie. You have to psychoanalyze the kid because the movie isn't telling you any of this. It's not particularly scary unless you happen to be someone trying to raise a kid in New York.

Don't bother going to see this movie. I want my money back.

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