Welcome back, Josh Nation!
Remember my "confession" from the previous post? About the #30 and #31 projects being my lowest rated Josh picks? (& again - not due to his performance! He was fantastic in both of these, as we will discuss!)
Well, it's time to talk about my second least favorite Josh film (but also the film that may contain one of my favorite lines he's ever uttered of all time). Curious what it is? Read on!
In 2012, Josh joined the cast of Red Dawn, a remake of a 1984 film with the same name. This flick features some folks you just may recognize - Josh teams up with Thor (I mean...Chris Hemsworth) and a group of other young adults when they find themselves in the middle of a war zone. Similar to Hunger Games, the plot is a "What If" type of story, exploring the question of "What if North Korea invaded the USA in modern times?".
It's an interesting question, but not necessarily an interesting film. Like The Forger, I found this film to be pretty slow, but I'll also willingly admit that war movies generally aren't my cup of tea anyway. There's a lot of violence in the film, and while we've seen Josh's characters handle guns before, this is the first time his character has actively used a gun as he did in this film. That said, his performance required a level of intensity and as usual, he delivered. Despite not having a crazy amount of screentime, he skillfully brings us on a character development journey when we find out what happens when the unthinkable occurs.
His character, Robert, is introduced as a nerdy-journalist-type-kid who gladly bowed down to authority, but in the face of war, we watch him transform. He becomes braver, bolder, and this character development leads to one of my favorite Josh lines: "Sandwich artist! Fill this shit with bread!" when raiding a Subway restaurant location (but he specifically requests no flatbread because desperate times call for desperate measures, but they weren't that desperate I guess).
We also get to see Josh expertly leverage eyes and facial expressions to evoke emotion in a short period during the quick scene where we find out his character's parents were killed. My heart just broke for Robert! This seemed to be a turning point for the character and he really steps up for the rest of the film.
While Josh gave his best in this one, as he always does, and his acting was enjoyable, I can't say the same for the film. Nonetheless, if you're on a mission to "watch em' all" like me, you may be able to find this one streaming on MAX.
Peace and Joshperity,
G
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