The Odd Life of Timothy Green
Directed by Peter Hedges
Starring Jennifer Garner, Joel Edgerton
Its a shame The Odd Life of Timothy Green is such a heavy-handed exercise in family values, given how much potential it had for effective storytelling.
Cindy (Garner) and Jim (Edgerton) are a happily married couple who cant conceive a baby.The pair decides to write down all the attributes they want in their offspring on scraps of paper and, after placing the notes in a box, proceed to bury them in the garden. The next morning, in a magical twist of fate, young Timothy (CJ Adams) appears on their doorstep and immediately takes on the role of Cindy and Jims adopted child.There is something else a little different about the boy; he comes equipped with leaves attached to his legs which eventually begin to shrivel and fall one by one.
Some elements of the film work, but most are cobbled together in a poor attempt to tug at the heartstrings of the audience and amount to nothing memorable in the end.Veteran actor David Morse is effective as Jims curmudgeonly father, while Dianne Wiest and Ron Livingston have little to work with when it comes to character depth.The script lacks subtlety and features too few moments that pack an emotional punch, which is unfortunate for how many changing dynamics and issues (infertility, job loss, bullying, sibling rivalry, death) it attempts to cover.
Though some of the films moments are admirable in their efforts, the entire piece is a messy patchwork of odd tonal shifts and forced melodrama.
