The Odd Life of Timothy Green (2012)
Certified: U
Duration: 105 minutes
Director: Peter Hedges
Starring: Jennifer Garner, Joel Edgerton, Dianne Wiest, C.J. Adams, Rosemarie DeWitt, Ron Livingston, David Morse, Common, Odeya Rush, Shohreh Aghdashloo, M. Emmet Walsh
KRS release
Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton are Cindy and Jim Green, a couple who have long wanted a child of their own.
They finally give up and decide to adopt. But first they have to go through an interview with an adoption officer (Shohreh Aghdashloo). They give her all the information she needs about why they can be a good mother and father.
They also emphasise the experience they had with a young boy called Timothy (C.J. Adams).
The couple had made a list of all the things they would have liked to have factored into their child and when they abandoned all hopes of having one of their own, they buried it in a small box in their yard.
That same night, a storm builds up and leaves a boy of approximately 10 years at their door. He sees them as his parents and the two take him in.
With leaves coming out of his feet, Timothy disturbs many people in their lives. This includes Brenda (Rosemarie DeWitt), who always has things to say about her own children, and James (David Morse), Jim’s distant father.
They also face problems at work and in enrolling the boy into a football team.
Timothy is, however, seemingly happy, not bothered with anything and sets his eyes on Joni (Odeya Rush), an older girl. Meanwhile, the leaves from his feet start to fall.
Disney’s The Odd Life of Timothy Green is a pleasant modern-day fable that reminded me of the likes of Powder (1995) and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) mixed with the fairy-tale elements of Tom Thumb or Thumbelina. It is all about the magic and effect that the arrival of an unusual, to say the least, boy has on a small town and its inhabitants.
It’s a fanciful and syrupy sweet kind of film. However, it is backed by an enthusiastic cast and earnest direction that make it a very interesting and delightful watch.
There are many things that can go wrong with the premise of the feature, but it ticks all the right boxes and approaches the story with a very convincing blend of fantasy and realism. A part of this merit here goes to Garner’s and Edgerton’s onscreen chemistry.
Theirs is an endearing performance that will elicit smiles and also a few tears along the way.
The film looks at small-town life and nature in a whimsical manner, almost yearning for times past, yet still enthusiastic about the future. Ultimately, what wins this film its audience is its simplicity and freshness that will make you leave the cinema with a good feeling.