The Odd Life of Timothy Green is a 2012 American fantasy drama produced by
Walt Disney Pictures. The film is about a magical pre-adolescent boy whose
personality and naivete have profound effects on the people in his town.
Director/writer Peter Hedges brings enchantment to the screen with The Odd
Life of Timothy Green, an inspiring, magical story about a happily married
couple, Cindy and Jim Green (Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton), who can't wait
to start a family but can only dream about what their child would be like. When
young Timothy (CJ Adams) shows up on their doorstep one stormy night, Cindy and
Jim – and their small town of Stanleyville – learn that sometimes the
unexpected can bring some of life's greatest gifts.
Awards
- Nominated – MovieGuide Awards 2013: Best Film for Families, and Epiphany
Prize Most Inspiring Movie, 2013
- Nominated – Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards, Best Live Action Family
Film, and Best Youth Performance in a Lead or Supporting Role – Male CJ
Adams, 2012
- Won – Young Artist Award, Best Performance in a Feature Film – Young
Actor Ten and Under CJ Adams
The Odd Life of Timothy Green Review
By Roger Ebert
“The Odd Life of Timothy Green,” a warm and lovely fantasy, is the
kind of full-bodied family film being pushed aside in favor of franchises and
slam-bang confusion. On a picture-postcard farm in the middle of endlessly
rolling hills where it is always Indian Summer, a lovable boy comes into the
life of a childless couple, and brings along great joy and wisdom.
Timothy isn't born and he isn't adopted. He seems to have grown in the
garden. The movie very wisely makes no attempt to explain how this happened. His
new parents have tried everything to conceive a child of their own, and one
desperate night, they open a bottle of red wine and start making a list of the
things their perfect child should have. This they put in a box and bury in their
garden, and after a torrential downpour and a lightning storm — why,
there's Timothy (CJ Adams), covered with wet earth and with leaves growing from
his legs. Makes perfect sense to me. How about you?
“You can call us Cindy and Jim,” say the bewildered Greens (Jennifer
Garner and Joel Edgerton). Timothy says he'll just call them Mom and Dad. Awww.
This clear-eyed and beautiful little boy has a knack for saying tactful things,
but a tendency to lack information you might think he'd know — for example,
the difference between the two goals in a soccer game.
The Greens hardly even attempt to explain his appearance in their house.
During an untimely family reunion the very next day, Timothy is so direct and
friendly, people sort of accept him. Not so much his grandfather (David Morse,
who was a demanding parent to Jim), but certainly his lovable Uncle Bob and Aunt
Mel (M. Emmet Walsh and Lois Smith). The supporting cast is rich with not only
those actors, but a welcome selection of other familiar faces: Dianne Wiest as
the mean-spirited supervisor of the local Pencil Museum, Shohreh Aghdashloo as
an official of the state adoption agency, Ron Livingston and James Rebhorn as
the son and father who own the pencil factory, and hip-hop star Common as the
soccer coach.
About those pencils. The movie is set in Stanleyville, “The Pencil
Capital of the World.” Times are hard. Computers are making it tough on
pencils, and the factory is threatened with closure. Timothy saves the day with
an inspiration from his closest friend, a teenage girl named Joni Jerome, played
by the sort of transcendent Odeya Rush. She rides around with her bicycle basket
filled with brightly colored leaves, and although her origin is not mystical as
Timothy's, she's an openhearted nature girl who completely agrees that if you
have leaves growing from your calves, you must sometimes spread your arms and
lift your face to the sun.
“The Odd Life of Timothy Green” is accessible to all but the youngest
children, and I suspect their parents will enjoy it, too. It respects the
integrity of its story by dealing with real emotions of loss and parting.
It's intelligently constructed by writer-director Peter Hedges (who wrote
“What's Eating Gilbert Grape” and “About a Boy”); instead of being
simpleminded like too many family films, it treats the characters with care and
concern. Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton are appealing together as far from
perfect parents, and CJ Adams has that ability of so many child actors to be
pitch-perfect."