The Odd Life of Timothy Green

I can just imagine what kind of reviews The Odd Life of Timothy Green will get. I'm sure a lot of critics will call it sentimental, and lacking dramatic tension. They certainly won't be wrong. The movie is easily the kindest, most gentlest movie to hit screens in 2012. And nothing really bad happens to these characters. Yeah, a kindly old man passes away at one point, but at least he's happy as he departs his life. I usually sneer at movies that so blatantly and desperately want to please and manipulate its audience, but I didn't this time. The characters are likable, and the script's a bit smarter than you would expect.

The movie was written and directed by Peter Hedges, who has done some really good, small movies about everyday people, such as What's Eating Gilbert Grape?, About a Boy, and Dan in Real Life. This time, he's made a whimsical little fantasy filled with everyday people. The movie kind of plays out like a bedtime story, and makes me wonder if he didn't originally plan for this to be a storybook at some point. We're introduced to Jim (Joel Edgerton) and Cindy Green (Jennifer Garner), a childless couple who on the night they learn from the doctor that they will never have children, decide to dream up the perfect child that they know they'll never have. They write down all the qualities and traits they would want the kid to have. (Honest to a fault, good sense of humor, be artistic, etc.) Afterward, they place everything they've written down in a box, and bury it in their garden before going to bed.

That night, a magical rainstorm hits the Green home. We know it's magical, because it's only raining directly on their land, and nowhere else in the small country town where they live. They are awakened by the storm, only to see muddy footprints covering their floor in different parts of the house. They follow the trail to a small bedroom, where a boy about 10-years-old covered with mud is waiting for them. He addresses himself as Timothy (CJ Adams), and calls Jim and Cindy "mom and dad". Where did he come from? From the spot in the ground where they buried the box earlier that evening, apparently, judging by the hole that's suddenly there. The boy is a bit awkward and not that coordinated, but he possesses all the traits that Jim and Cindy dreamed of in their "perfect child".

The movie wisely does not really try to explain Timothy, or what he is. We know he's not entirely human, because he has fresh green leaves growing out of his skin around his ankles. Regardless, the Greens accept him as their own, and before long, so does most of the local townsfolk. Timothy develops a relationship with a withdrawn, but nice local girl (Odeya Rush) who appreciates him for how different he is and acts. He even manages to somewhat win over the mean old lady (Dianne Wiest) who runs the small museum where his mother works. No big plot developments happen once Timothy appears into the lives of his parents. This is a quiet, gentle fable about two people learning to love this strange little boy whom they know nothing about, nor where he truly came from. Meanwhile, little Timothy gets to experience life, and the different people who make up the town. How long he will get to enjoy this is another matter, as when the leaves on the trees start to change color, so do the ones on Timothy.

The Odd Life of Timothy Green will most likely speak to children with big imaginations. It has an innocence and wonder to it that is surprisingly rare to find in a family film these days. I also grew to love the characters. Jim and Cindy are not the perfect parents, but that's okay, Timothy is not the perfect child. He makes mistakes, and doesn't always understand what's going on around him, as kids are known to do. I also enjoyed the relationship he shared with the local girl, which has an honesty about a child's first crush that few movies hold. I even wound up liking the movie's great big heart. It never once seems manipulative or forced with its emotions. Yes, this is a sweet movie, but it's not a sappy one. Its sentimentality ends up being sort of charming.

Most of all, the movie is honest about the topics it touches on, which is mainly hope, life, and being forced to part. Despite all the fantastical story elements found throughout, this really is a very human little story. I only hope it finds an audience during these late summer months, as it holds no CG, nor does it have any promotional tie-in campaigns, like the other family films playing in cinemas do. But then, that's kind of a nice change of pace, don't you think?

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