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A simple, single man named Joshua (Tony Goldwyn) moves into
a small, modern day town and begins making friends with everyone
while a Catholic priest is anxious about his growing popularity.
That’s basically the plot outline. The catch – this
guy is Jesus in disguise.
I really like the idea of a Christ character, or even a Christ-like
character, as a neighbor in current times. It’s hard to
get a feel for what Jesus was really like as a person from the
Bible, and I’ve often wondered what he would be like if
he lived among us now. I’m not totally sure what he’d
be like, but one thing I can say for certain is – Joshua
is not it. Joshua works with an extremely clichéd, contemporary
Christian interpretation of Christ. This Jesus is all about squishy
lovey-dovey stuff, who seems to think that the most important
thing in life is for us to remember that He loves us.
In Joshua, the more fundamental version of love –
love as is demonstrated in ethical behavior – is virtually
absent and is absorbed in the more simplistic “don’t
judge people” notion of love. Or, even more so, the further
obscured idea that the only real important love is the love that
Jesus has for us. Thus, the film never really gets around to saying
anything significant, unless you happen to be the one Christian
on earth who believes in an apathetic Christ.
This isn’t to say that good deeds aren’t found in
Joshua. All that Joshua does is to go around helping people in
whatever area he thinks they need help, whether physically or
supernaturally. But the best example of the failure of the moral
motivation of Joshua is the storyline of the change of
heart found in Father Tardone.
Throughout the story, Father Tardone (F. Murray Abraham) becomes
more upset with Joshua because he seems to believe that Joshua
is creating some kind of cult. He is further upset because his
fellow clergyman, Father Pat Heyes (Kurt Fuller), is one of Joshua’s
biggest fans. Father Tardone behaves much as one of the Jewish
leaders in Christ’s day might have behaved. He goes from
skeptical, to disliking him, to outright fighting against him.
By the end of the film, though, Father Tardone experiences a change
of heart. This change comes not through any humbling experience
or seeing the good in Joshua, not from hearing words that he recognizes
to be true, and not with any real coming to terms with himself.
No, Father Tardone changes when Joshua puts his hands on him and
does something – I don’t know what – something
that reveals to him that this man is actually Jesus. What the
heck? When did we see anything, like some sort of humility –
anything that would lead us to believe that this man was willing
to change?
Father Tardone’s change of heart is about as superficially
presented as a change of heart can possibly get. It allows for
no sense of introspection or vicarious change of heart on the
part of the audience. And that about sums up the film as a whole.
Sure, it’s thought provoking just to be thinking about Jesus
and what kind of life he would lead. It may even be uplifting
to see his own humility and unconditional love for others. But
ultimately it fails to achieve anything further than a light,
superficially heartwarming sensation.
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