A Estranha Vida de Timothy Green

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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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.

I like Peter Hedges' other films. I wish I could have liked this more. Its' heart and message are so in the right place, but it plays like a schmaltzy movie of the week. Jennifer Garner, whom I have really enjoyed in other roles, overplays this one and is very disappointing. The kid who plays Timothy is good enough. His young female friend Odeya Rush is the best in the cast. Joel Edgerton is perfect for Lifetime movie of the week. They are all really likable. So I just wished I liked the film more. And the message is terrific. I cry in schmaltzy films but I think it says much about this film in that the only time it brought any tears was in the final scene which was grounded in reality. When the fantasy was going I just wasn't sucked in.

7 may be a generous rating, but this is a solid family film with a strong positive message. There is a big audience out there for this film. I don't really want to discourage them from seeing it.

Although this movie is not much of a box office success, due to the heavy load of drama, sensitivity and all the mushy-mushy stuff, I still say it is nice to see things go well sometimes, makes you feel that the world is not that bad.

Walt Disney still brings a little magic into our lives trying to make you feel the world is not that much of a sad place. Peter Hedges the director and co-writer of the film did a nice job with this movie, which doesn't have lots of special effects but delivers the hallmark family fun that Disney is known for, Peter finds a way to draw your sensitivity out and make you develop an emotional attachment to the characters from the movies first scene of parents struggling to have a child to when a naked kid shows up and then all the way till the end.

The odd life of Timothy green is about a couple Cindy and Jim Green (Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton), who couldn't have children. The couple has done all they can to get pregnant but all to no avail, so they began to dream about what their child would be like, they wrote down all they wished he would be, achieve and become, placed it in a box and buried it in the backyard.

One stormy night young Timothy (CJ Adams) shows up on their doorstep and calls them mum and dad.

CJ Adams was exceptional in his task as Timothy Green, child actors seem to have a difficult role sometimes when they have to convince you, but CJ did a good job and I was impressed by his acting.

As Adams plays young Timothy who sees life differently; hey! He has leaves growing on his ankles, he likes to spread his hands in the sunlight, he is naïve and truthful to a fault.

The movie's story had some loops here and there, but it was fun to see how things planned to turn out, although some can boast that the movie was a little predictable but it was also lovable. I won't burst the kids from school to go see this movie, but if you do catch it on TV gather the family around for a fun time.

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.