Dan Franzen (dfranzen70)
The Odd Life of Timothy Green is a beautiful, sweet story of a childless couple who reap the benefits - and unintended consequences - of wish fulfillment. It's framed as a fantasy, but it is leavened with dollops of honesty, education, and wonder.Jim (Joel Edgerton) and Cindy (Jennifer Garner) Green have been trying, trying, trying to have a baby. Their fertility doctor informs them that despite all of their efforts, the couple simply cannot conceive. Devastated, Cindy wants them to accept the facts and just move on, but Jim cannot let go. His coping mechanism is for each of them to write some attribute that they believe their child would have had (based on themselves) on pieces of notepaper, put the papers into a wooden box, and bury the box in the backyard garden. This they do, and during a highly unusual thunderstorm that night, they discover an unusual young boy in their house, muddy and wet - and with leaves on his lower legs.His name is Timothy, and he calls Jim and Cindy "Mom" and "Dad." At first, Jim and Cindy believe young Timothy to be a runaway - but the leaves on his legs and the big hole in their garden lead them to suspect otherwise. And so, after so much time spent anxiously wishing for a baby of their own, the couple is now thrust full speed into the realm of parenthood. And I do mean full speed, for the very next morning various family members arrive for an outdoor party that apparently our two adults have forgotten all about.Through Timothy, we meet the gang. Jim's dad Big Jim (David Morse) is the sort of smug, arrogant guy that most people take an instant dislike to; conversely, Cindy's Aunt Mel (Lois Smith) and Uncle Bub (M. Emmet Walsh) are the very picture of a lovely older couple. Then there's Cindy's sister Brenda (Rosemarie DeWitt) and her husband Franklin (Ron Livingston), who happens to be Jim's boss at the local pencil-manufacturing plant. Brenda and Franklin famously natter on about their overachieving three-kid brood, something that consistently rankles Cindy.Timothy's effect on everyone around him is noticeable. Much like Pollyanna, the glad girl, Timothy seems to make everyone happy, even the cranky sorts like Big Jim. But yes, he is a bit of an oddity, and poor Jim and Cindy are torn between raising a so-called normal child and allowing Timothy to be himself. That does sound treacly, like an Afterschool Special. But somehow, it's not. We don't know where Timothy came from. We don't know why he has leaves on his legs and what they may signify. Those things aren't important to this story, because this is really a tale about not having all of the answers and doing the best anyway. In other words, it's about making mistakes and learning from them.The movie also provides such a great perspective on being a parent (and I say this as a non-parent); Jim and Cindy are bewildered, beset by the ghosts of parents past and present. They try too hard, as one might expect from new parents. Never is this more evident than when Timothy finds himself on the school's soccer team (coached by rapper Common). Yes, they become soccer parents. And Timothy is not some savior who magically makes everything come out just grand. He knows who or what he is, but he is not infallible. In fact, there are many, many things he doesn't know (for example, how to swim).I really appreciated the ending. Yes, it's sad and bittersweet, but it's so packed with emotion that the effect is very powerful indeed. Garner and Dianne Wiest, who plays Cindy's boss, are both excellent, and young CJ Adams (seen in the most recent Godzilla adaptation) is stunning.
ilania_a
I expected a D movie and it became almost a B, despite the fact that a pure beautiful legend stemming from nature was transformed into the American concept of what a boy should be. I personally was quite uncomfortable with those leaves falling off one by one a fact that gave the story away quite fast. This director is basically a writer (About a Boy) I suppose a different director, and a stronger cast could have given better results. Jennifer Garner was not at her best. Her husband Joel Edgerton was well cast. The boy CJ Adams failed to make his mark. On the other hand young Joni Odeya Rush proved to be a beautiful, seasoned actress. David Morse made his mark despite the tiny part he was given in this story. It is a family film and there are not too many of those around.