![]() Joshua gets filed under the latter, with a creepy look to boot. There are kids who are adorable, and kids who just gets on your nerve. "Modern children were considerably less innocent than parents and the larger society supposed. Although I was quite pleased with the slow exposition, because I think things unravel slowly in privileged families, the payoff ending came too quickly and without the supernatural underpinnings the buildup seemed to promise. Kane's lifelong hang up over being separated from his family is an appropriate allusion to clarify the psychological ramifications in this film. Although comparisons to The Bad Seed and Rosemary's Baby seem fair, Kogan bears a strong resemblance to Buddy Swan, who played the young Charles Foster Kane with chilling deadpan. As in most successful thrillers involving miscreant kids, even to the end is a doubt that they could be the source of the growing terror. When, however, nine-year old Joshua Cairn (Jacob Kogan) begins missing his parents' affection, displaced to his crybaby newborn sister, strange but not too strange things happen, not easily ascribable to him. The slow disintegration of an upper-middle class family is so carefully drawn that the first third of the film seems like a walk in the park with a few scrapes from some errant shrubbery. 12 at recess, director George Ratliff, whose Hell House could have entitled this expert psychological thriller, has fashioned a hell of a cautionary tale about appearances and reality, unlovable kids and their clueless parents. However, if you want the bejesus scared out of you by a kid so bright he could skip two grades and play Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. If you think all your children will be lovable, don't see Joshua. If you think your stockbroker spouse is a stable breadwinner capable of providing you a view of Central Park, don't see Joshua. "Cruel children, crying babies, All grow up as geese and gabies, Hated, as their age increases, By their nephews and their nieces." Robert Louis Stevenson If you're thinking of starting a family, don't see Joshua. And that scene where the kid mocks his father for mourning their dead dog which Joshua killed, of course is chilling. I especially liked the bit where Joshua gets his mother to step on some broken glass. There are, on the other hand, several very good sequences. And she tells Rockwell instantly! You'd think if she really thought he was abusing his son, she'd play it more subtly and, you know, call child services or something. ![]() That whole bit was patently ridiculous: the woman deduces after approximately twelve seconds (she looks at one drawing) that Joshua is being abused. Particlarly awful is the scene where Rockwell hires a child psychologist to examine Joshua. But Rockwell's reaction to his son's evil is almost comical, and I'm not entirely sure it's unintentional. I shouldn't be giggling at the whole concept this is where some true horror should arise. This is especially true in the final half-hour, after Rockwell's character has begun to expect his son of being malicious. Sam Rockwell is a little too broad, and comes off as almost comedic. ![]() I wouldn't say that Jacob Kogan gives a good performance here, but he certainly has the look of utter wickedness about him. He ends up almost paper-thin, like there's nothing behind his wickedly blank face. ![]() While there is no supernatural reason given for Joshua, the kid is so odd and seemingly beyond his own years that I think some viewers will end up supplying their own. Unfortunately, Ratliff and co-writer David Gilbert haven't written a good enough script to support their idea. I love the whole evil child angle, and the fact that there is no supernatural reason for Joshua's behavior makes it even more horrifying. After his baby sister is born, Joshua becomes morbid, and more than a little creepy. Jacob Kogan plays the title character, the first child of Brad and Abbie Cairn (Sam Rockwell and Vera Farmiga). I would categorize this as an interesting failure.
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