After Tom meets Claudia and the couple begin a romance, Tom says, "I think I love you." Ya' think??? That line was not a good omen for the future of the relationship. It also reflects some of bizarre choices of the screenwriters for the characters of "Joshua's Heart."
Tom is arguably guilty of child abuse for the way that he neglects his ten-year-old son Joshua. While not committing physical or psychological abuse, the main problem is neglect built on a remarkable insensitivity on the part of the dad. At a critical point in the film, the father instructs the son, "Try to deal with all that emotional stuff!"
There were also problems in the conception of the lead character, Claudia Casara, an illustrator of children's books. Claudia becomes the lover of Tom, who is a serial womanizer. When the luster wears off for Tom, the relationship fizzles. But Claudia has become OVERLY attached to little Joshua. And the operative word is overly.
The precocious little boy takes the initiative to contact child services on his own, reporting the neglect of his father. A kind social worker named Mrs. Kent interviews all of the parties involved, including the birth mother of Joshua. Kit aspired to be a ballet dancer, but failed. Now a chain smoker and a box office attendant, she is back in L.A. and wants to share in raising Joshua after she essentially abandoned him when he was five.
In the interview of Mrs. Kent with Claudia, the effervescent book illustrator drops a bombshell when she says that Joshua is "the kind of person I need to be with." The appalled social worker must remind Claudia that it is the child whose needs deserve attention, not hers. This was a deeply troubling moment. It was not until Claudia's close assistant Nick sets her straight about boundaries that Claudia realizes that she may have greater personal problems to deal with than Joshua.
The actors did an admirable job in rising above the material to try to bring a heartfelt quality to the drama. While the intent of "Joshua's Heart" was clearly a Hallmark-style "feel good" movie, there were too many troubling elements in the scripting and the characters to offer the audience much to feel good about.
Tom is arguably guilty of child abuse for the way that he neglects his ten-year-old son Joshua. While not committing physical or psychological abuse, the main problem is neglect built on a remarkable insensitivity on the part of the dad. At a critical point in the film, the father instructs the son, "Try to deal with all that emotional stuff!"
There were also problems in the conception of the lead character, Claudia Casara, an illustrator of children's books. Claudia becomes the lover of Tom, who is a serial womanizer. When the luster wears off for Tom, the relationship fizzles. But Claudia has become OVERLY attached to little Joshua. And the operative word is overly.
The precocious little boy takes the initiative to contact child services on his own, reporting the neglect of his father. A kind social worker named Mrs. Kent interviews all of the parties involved, including the birth mother of Joshua. Kit aspired to be a ballet dancer, but failed. Now a chain smoker and a box office attendant, she is back in L.A. and wants to share in raising Joshua after she essentially abandoned him when he was five.
In the interview of Mrs. Kent with Claudia, the effervescent book illustrator drops a bombshell when she says that Joshua is "the kind of person I need to be with." The appalled social worker must remind Claudia that it is the child whose needs deserve attention, not hers. This was a deeply troubling moment. It was not until Claudia's close assistant Nick sets her straight about boundaries that Claudia realizes that she may have greater personal problems to deal with than Joshua.
The actors did an admirable job in rising above the material to try to bring a heartfelt quality to the drama. While the intent of "Joshua's Heart" was clearly a Hallmark-style "feel good" movie, there were too many troubling elements in the scripting and the characters to offer the audience much to feel good about.
