How sad is this?

A Disappointing Continuation

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

It took me seven years to appreciate this film. Not a constant seven years, but that was the interval between when I first saw it and mostly disliked it, until now, when I love it. The reason is that the book the movie is drawn from is so powerful, I couldn't see why the movie diverted from it so greatly.However for some reason I felt a leading to watch the film again last week, and now I was able to appreciate it on its own merits. And they are many.I think the reason this movie is so powerful is that Joshua exhibits a "natural spirituality". There is nothing religious or sanctimonious about him. With him, it's all about relationships based on serving each other. In other words, it's about love.Of course, the supernatural power is there too, and it's what gives Joshua the man his special credibility. But it works alongside his loving character.There were several moments in this film that I found moving. The odd thing is that they were not flashy, raising-the-dead moments. They were little things that spoke of the love and power of God, of Christ having come to gently serve us and show us the way.I found the scene with what happens to the broken glass vase moving, and I thought that Stacy Edwards did a fantastic job in her role as Maggie. I particularly liked the scene with the pope. Giannini did an awesome job of showing a quiet humble spirituality. Also Kurt Fuller was totally believable in his role. And of course, Tony Goodwyn was superb. Excellent job also, Colleen and Eddie, as Joan and Theo! Now that I'm over the book-movie comparison, I really appreciate this film. Also, MW Smith's score is really excellent. Fantastic job all around. This film is great for believers and those not quite there yet. Turn your friends and family onto it. They will be glad you did.

one of that movies reducible to its message. because it is its unique virtue. the performance, cast, script are instruments for better understanding.it is a religious film but in a special manner. because not the saint element is central but relationship. it is not a moral lesson. it is not a lesson. only pledge for different mode to discover and build life. it is beautiful and touching because the shining of little basic things/fact/words/parables are beautiful and touching. it is like a spring morning or a poem in an old box. nothing else. a film about a community. and way of a stranger. self-definitions. and warm state of soul. that is all. enjoy it !

Joshua is a film about a man who wanders into a town. He rents a barn and works out of it for his woodcarving shop. He performs miracles that no ordinary man could do, shows the towns people that God loves them, which makes Father Tordone suspicious. There is a very obvious parallel between Joshua and Jesus. Many of the miracles and actions Joshua performs are the same as those done by Jesus. Such as when a con men set up a Tent Revival, Joshua tells him he doesn't have to con people. This is similar to Jesus and the Pharisees. Pharisees were strict observers of laws and rules, but Jesus thought differently, he preached love. Where he sought sinners out rather than scorn them. The film seems to show that Joshua is a messiah. Especially as in the Bible, one key part of being a messiah is to rebuild Solomon's Temple. In the film it seems to be symbolized when Joshua rebuilds a Baptist Church destroyed in a storm. Joshua also performs miracles like making the blind see, and raising the dead. Vatican City then catches interest in his actions, a lot like how Jesus' actions caught the attention of the Roman Empire. But I don't think the movie wants Joshua to represent the Second Coming. As Joshua in the film hasn't returned the Jews to their homeland, which Jesus couldn't do, but is stated in several biblical verses. The Christian response to this assertion of Jesus not being a messiah is he will accomplish this in the Second Coming. The same can be said of unfulfilled biblical verses. This film seems to be capturing how Jesus will be perceived in the modern times, and how society has changed from the ancient times. What I took away from this film is that Jesus came to Earth and died for our sins. But he did not come to do work for us, he began preaching love, and it is the responsibility of Christians to continue this work to continue to spread the message. Joshua changes the faith of the town's people and showed them love, but it is up to the people to decide if they believe in what Joshua showed them, some like Tordone at first are skeptical and suspicious but others who are healed see the truth of Joshua's actions.

This movie has a very beautiful story about how people can live. Sort of represents a messiah of today, instead of showing the "superman" vision of a messiah, that does everything by himself and kicks bad guys's butts it shows a person seemingly like all of us but that's not afraid of helping others or doing things without being rewarded. This movie also tells us that God/faith isn't about sins and getting people being punished for them, but about love and helping each other. Everything in the movie is based on the love, but not the one we see in novels or love movies, but the non-egoistic love. Finally, the overall movie is great as for me, definitely one of the best I've seen, and at the end it leaves a strange emotion inside, that makes you wanna help others.