Director: Peter Hedges
Cast: Jennifer Garner, Joel Edgerton, CJ Adams
Running Time: 105 minutes
Certificate: PG
Synopsis: A childless couple bury a box in their backyard containing all of their wishes for the perfect child. Soon, a child is born, but little Timothy Green is not all that he appears…
Meet the Greens. A seemingly ordinary couple who want one thing more than anything in the world: simply to have a child, and not just any child, but their perfect child. As the parents, Cindy and Jim Green (excellently played by Hollywood mainstay Jennifer Garner and the gradually increasing presence that is Joel Edgerton) place a box containing their ideal child traits in the garden during a freak storm, in typical Disney fashion, their child appears.
There is something not quite right about Timothy Green (CJ Adams) who is more strange than miraculous.
Don’t get me wrong, CJ Adams is a likable actor and Timothy certainly has moments of cuteness, yet it is the weak storyline, overly sentimental score by Geoff Zanelli, and generic American town, which leaves a disappointing impression on an idea that could have been so much more.
Timothy, a boy who literally grew in the garden is certainly a miracle, but the film offers nothing fresh, extraordinary, or frankly interesting.
Upon his introduction to the film, Timothy is seemingly normal in every way, with one exception – leaves.
An important theme throughout the film, the leaves attached on Timothy’s legs act as his connection to the Earth, and accompanying environmental messages throughout, be it environmentally friendly factories, Timothy’s retreat to the forest, or even the surname “Green”, THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN seems unnecessarily preachy about a topic it does not want to tackle head on.
Really, it’s hard to pick anything outstanding about the film bar Edgerton and Garner, who are the only major plusses of what is otherwise, a very average Disney output. They are both believable as new parents, who struggle to adjust to the strange life that accompanies Timothy, but with the exception of an emotional performance from veteran star M. Emmet Walsh, the pair lack any real compliment from an average supporting cast.
A single moment of genuine emotion here, or a brief laugh there, is not enough to make this seemingly extraordinary story any more than an less-than-ordinary Hollywood film.
THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN is out now.
