THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN

2012 / Director. Peter Hedges.
Review by Glenn Cochrane.

The most wonderful thing about creative writing is that no idea is too stupid and if the story is told well anything is believable. THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN is a shining example. This is a wonderful film that has been told in a beautiful way. Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton play a married couple who are unable to conceive. On the night they are told that they can never have children they sit down and write a list of all the qualities that their child would have possessed. They put the list into a box and bury it in their garden. It is a gesture to help them grieve the monumental loss they feel. During the middle of the night a rain storm arrives and with it comes a child. He is covered in mud and has leaves growing from his ankles - his name is Timothy. From this moment on the film tells their story as they begin life as a family. Together they deal with being outcasts and learn how to push through adversity. As the title suggests it is an odd story but it's a magical one. Director Peter Hedges (DAN IN REAL LIFE, PIECES OF APRIL) is no stranger to stories about outcasts and misfits (he also wrote WHAT'S EATING GILBERT GRAPE and ABOUT A BOY) and he has really tapped into the heart of this one. With a stunning North Carolina Autumn landscape and an ensemble of terrific actors the film leaps off the screen and tugs right at your heartstrings. Once again Walt Disney Pictures has produced another outstanding live-action family film that adds to a huge stable of brilliant films. Slowly but surely I am working my way through them but it's a long process with over 100 titles dating back to the 1930s. Many of them I will watch several times over..... including THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN.

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