Tower Heist, opening today nationwide, stars Ben Stiller as a New York City building manager who recruits a crook named Slide (Eddie Murphy) to ransack the penthouse suite of a Wall Street businessman whose Ponzi scheme has made mincemeat of the building staff’s pension plan. Stiller’s character, Josh Kovacs, got me thinking about the prolonged childhood that characters named Joshua or Josh have had on the big screen. Long used as a signifier for youth and vulnerability, finally there is a big screen representation worthy of a name of such Biblical proportions. Regardless of whether you share the name, sit back and enjoy this trip through recent Joshua past:
Sheesh. What a list! Then there’s that Joshua Whathisname with the fantasy Italian wedding. I wish I could remember who it is, but Ducky got me all jacked up.
Sorry to nitpick, but Clueless is based on Jane Austen’s novel Emma, not Pride & Prejudice.