La drôle de vie de Timothy Green

28 August 2012. This family drama is a fusion of August Rush (2007), a young adult version of Meet Joe Black (1998) and Heaven Can Wait (1978). What makes this particular movie stand out is how it avoids the traditional sweet syrupy sludge of typical feel good juvenile movies. Instead the script incorporates a more encompassing view of life, including its funny moments, innocent experiences as well as the drama of hurt, sadness, and loss. In sort, this is a very nicely balance movie that includes a slice of life look at our own experiences but through the lens of honesty and the hopes and dreams of many parents and their children as well. This is a movie about what can be and is. Reviewed 8/26/12. 8/10.

Something is missing from this movie. By all means, this should had been a great, entertaining and heartfelt, modern fairy tale, for the whole family to enjoy but the movie handles certain themes poorly and make some odd choices with its story at times.

And honestly, I still foremost really liked the movie. It's harmless and cute enough still and the movie has its moments. But that doesn't take away anything from the fact that this movie still is being a bit of a missed opportunity.

All of the right intentions were there, it just didn't always worked out successfully. The approach they were going for was a heartfelt family movie, in which a mysterious young boy brings people together and changes their lives for the positive. It just happen to do it all in a wrong way, for most of the time. First of all; it does far too little with its mystery/fantasy aspects. They accept the boy for who he is and where he came from pretty early on- and easily. Besides, it all seems like the boy is doing very little special actually, as if the movie was afraid it would loose some of its viewers if it was going to be more heavy on its fantasy aspects.

That perhaps was the movie its biggest problem; it wasn't heavy on its fantasy. The movie rather picks some uninteresting plot developments instead. It prefers to be about pencils, as opposed to something more heartfelt or bigger than life. It seems like the movie still wanted to be about morals and wanted to teach you about life but it mostly does so by inserting stereotypical characters and some forced or formulaic dramatic moments. It's not as warm and emotional involving as this movie required to be, in order for it to let it all work out.

I am also still a bit confused about it who this movie was aimed for. It seems to be a bit too slow and uninteresting for young children and not convincing enough for adults. It's a bit in between of being an entertaining children's movie and a modern fairy tale for adults. I did wished they had balanced certain things out a bit better, so the movie would had been better and more fun to watch for both adults and youngsters.

The movie is still being fine as it is. I mean, all the things I had problems with didn't ruined the movie for me in any way and I could certainly still enjoy and appreciate it for what it was. It's cuteness factor and innocence still make this a recommendable film. Just don't expect to be very taken- or blown away by any of it.

7/10

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I was able to see this movie on a rare night out with my children, ages 13,11,9,7,and 6. It's hard to find a movie that the whole family could enjoy but ALL of them didn't move the whole time. Not one asked to use the restroom, how much longer and what was happening. For any parent you know that it is a HUGE plus!

As for the movie itself, it is by far NOT the best movie around. However, when you can walk away from a movie and reflect on how it relates to your own life then you have a winner.

I am not sure if those without children could appreciate this movie. If you have children and can't appreciate it then there is something amiss in your life.

The Odd Life of Timothy Green (2012)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton play a married couple who learn they can't have children. After a good cry the two decide to make notes of the type of kid they'd like to have and that night they bury it in the garden and sure enough they wish comes true. It's really a shame that so many people have decided not to give this film any attention but I guess I can understand why. People see Disney and I guess they expect children movies and while there's nothing in this film that would be too harmful for kids, I think the target audience is going to be grown ups. THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN is a cute, charming, funny and at times incredibly sad film that has a lot of imagination working for it. If you need to have everything explained to you or if you must know how logically a kid can grow from a garden then it's probably best just to skip the film. The story itself is clearly meant to inspire people and touch them and I think it does a remarkable job at that. I thought the film was a lot of fun for a number of reasons including seeing two people get their wish of having a child and then having to deal with everything that comes with it. Since Timothy is a special child this adds more problems but I really loved how everyone in this small town and family connected to the kid. Be it the parents, the sports coach, the other kids or the family members. Both Garner and Edgerton do terrific jobs in the roles of the parents and CJ Adams is extremely good as the young boy. The supporting cast includes nice performances from M Emmet Walsh, Lois Smith, Rosemarie DeWitt, Dianne Wiest and it was great seeing David Morse playing the grandfather. The film certainly has a lot of messages but I found it as a parent just to be incredibly sweet, good natured and yes it was incredibly sad at parts. This is certainly a film that uses its imagination to make you smile and cry but there's certainly nothing wrong with that.

Disney has a rich history with animated films, but they also manage to deliver touching original live action films. Their latest The Odd Life of Timothy Green takes on an interesting subject with a bit of fantasy blended with a family drama. With a decent cast including Jennifer Garner, Joel Edgerton, Ron Livingston, and Dianne Wiest will they be able to deliver an entertaining movie that will speak to the audience or end up needing to be planted back in the garden? The Odd Life of Timothy Green follows a married couple who are dying to start a family, but when things just aren't working out they began to dream about what their child would be like. After a stormy night a young boy named Timothy shows up and changes the couple and their small town in unexpected ways. This is one of those movies that as a whole work really well telling the story in an effective entertaining way. Everyone gave decent performances but nothing really stood out other than Timothy himself CJ Adams who brings a needed innocence to the character that really comes off very well. If his performance didn't work then this movie would not have worked at all. Thanks to his ability to bring this character to life while delivering all the various emotions to bring the rest of the story in cast together. The story is original, cute, and enduring but still was missing a little something. It starts out a bit slow and drawn out taking a little more time than needed to get to the point, but still works for the most part. For the rest of the movie you are fairly entertained and intrigued on where they are taking the story, but then becomes a bit predictable. While this never really hurts the film, the lack of real resolve to the primary part of the story you sit through really loses you at the end. With that being said the majority of this film works really well.

This is a rare film that not only tells a heartwarming story filled with a wide range of emotions and sensitivities. This is a funny film wrapped in an emotional drama, with a touch of fantasy that delivers an original film in an age filled with remakes and sequels. If you're looking for something new for the family give Timothy Green a try.

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