Joshua (I) (2002)

"Joshua" tells the story of a possible second coming of Christ to a small U.S. town.

Director:

Jon Purdy

Writers:

Joseph F. Girzone (novel), Brad Mirman (screenplay),

Stars:

Tony Goldwyn, F. Murray Abraham, Kurt Fuller

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tony Goldwyn	...	Joshua
F. Murray Abraham	...	Father Tardone
Kurt Fuller	...	Father Pat Hayes
Stacy Edwards	...	Maggie
Giancarlo Giannini	...	The Pope
Eddie Bo Smith Jr.	...	Theo
Michael Guido	...	Aaron
Matt Zeigler	...	Kevin
Colleen Camp	...	Joan Casey
Marc Grapey	...	Steve Casey (as Mark Grapey)
Rich Komenich	...	Ray Persini
Dale Calandra	...	Leo Persini
Cedric Young	...	Charlie
Tim Grimm	...	Bishop Anderson
Jordan Allen	...	Michael Reed

Storyline

The town of Auburn was always normal, to say the least. True, the people there weren't really a "community", but they never noticed...until a stranger named Joshua rolled into town one morning. In small ways, Joshua began to help out around the town-helping a teen play guitar, helping save a marriage in danger, or teaching a bumbling priest how to speak about faith. An old Baptist church that came down in a storm is his next big project. With the help of stuttering Theo, who dreams of being a preacher, he brings the town together to restore the old building. In this way, the whole town unites and becomes a community. This attracts the attention of Father Tordone, who is a bitter man due to the fact that he lost a position in the Vatican. When the mysterious Joshua begins to show up in two places at once and miraculously cures a blind woman, Father Tordone believes Joshua is a false prophet, trying to cheat people. When his next huge miracle-reviving Theo from death after he falls from...

---

Plot Keywords:

priest | second coming | blind woman | church | stuttering | 

---

Taglines:

Hope has a name...

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Epipany Films [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 April 2002 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Chicago Studio City - 5660 W. Taylor Street, Austin, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Crusader Entertainment, Epiphany Films LLC, Feelmax

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The band that appears at the "worship service" is the contemporary Christian group Third Day.

---

Goofs

When Maggie closes the hood of her car, there's a reverse shot, after which she appears again and the hood closes again.

---

Quotes

Joshua: Sometimes you have to tear something down in order to build it back up."

---

Connections

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

---

Soundtracks

"Innocence"
Written by Bruce Hibbard and Elizabeth Speegle
Performed by Jaci Velasquez

User Reviews

Shows How Jesus Would Be Like Today...

The purpose of the film is clear: portray what Jesus would be like if he was doing his ministry today. How Joshua treated the people around him, how he lived his life, the miracles, how he spoke to blasphemers, his enemies, and everything, it was a great portrait of what we know and imagine Jesus to be like.

The film crossed all of the denominational boundaries - reaching to evangelists, revivalists, Catholics, and others - with the message of God's love. And the film did a great job of using Tony to portray what Jesus' love would be like today.

What you can take away from this film is a glimpse of what a Christian should be and should portray. As a Christian, your goal is to be more Christ-like. One of Christ's main teachings was love and he demonstrated that in his ministry. This movie gives you a glimpse of one of what an outward appearance, evidence, of a Christian should be. I mean, doesn't make sense that a Christian should be nice, friendly, loving, helpful, and show humility?

I think the movie did a great job showing that. As for the miracles of the movie - they were similar to stuff from the gospels. Take that with a grain of salt. This movie isn't about the second coming of Jesus or retelling the Jesus story. It's a fantasical conjecture to the question of "what if Jesus came to earth again to reiterate His message and work? what would that be like?"

This movie isn't supposed to be deep or evoke something like the Passion. This movie is supposed to make you stop and evaluate, take stock of yourself - to invoke in your heart. If the movie stirred your heart, then you should seek to find out more about this Jesus.

As for the music - according to the first commenter who is clearly not a believer - the music is secondary. The movie featured Third Day, a pretty well-known CCM music band. The music served its purpose.

Whoever the first commenter was, he/she missed the point of the movie entirely. He/she might not even be a believer, or is a believer who is so caught up with him/herself that he/she has no idea what he/she is talking about. The first commenter used the word blaspheme - stop using such big words, you're giving yourself a headache!

Don't miss this film. Let the message speak to your heart.