Director: Peter Hedges
Cast: Jennifer Garner, Joel Edgerton, CJ Adams, David Morse
Running time: 100 Minutes
Synopsis: Timothy Green literally grows out of the back garden belonging to Jim and Cindy Green, a couple which have dreamt of a child and are now getting everything they wished for and more.
Extra Features: Deleted scenes and music video.
Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Garner play a couple who are very much in love, and even more in love with the idea of having a child something that is not possible for the pair. As they try to deal with the terrible news they have a drunken night where they create an imaginary offspring which later manifests itself in the form of Timothy Green.
It’s difficult to know what audience Disney had in mind when making this movie. Is it for couples who have obstacles to overcome, is it for children to learn about hope and dismay, or is it just a fairytale? At times after the strange Timothy enters their home the film even strays into horror momentarily.
The side stories of the overbearing older sister to Cindy (Jennifer Garner), the closing of the town’s pencil factory, and a dying uncle are put in to create a more rounded story but it has no relevance to Timothy or his supposedly odd life. In fact, a shamelessly small amount of attention is given to Timothy, although he’s the single most interesting character in the film. No consideration is given to his feelings, his prior existence, his story or his future. Instead we’re stuck looking at two respected actors acting silly; jumping and screaming as they try to be the best parents ever to a perfect Child. Garner plays the emotionally torn and barren miracle believing mother very well, but she is caught between having to be a plastic Disney mum and a real character with fears, passions and depth.
The film is made up of a string of repetitive and dull scenes showing the endearing Timothy being bullied because he’s so special and clueless, learning about love and realising that he is the product of his parents’ wishes. The extra features consist of a music video that will send you back to the 80s and deleted scenes which show that if possible, there were even duller scenes left out of the film.
THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN is in genre limbo where it isn’t specially appropriate for younger children, nor is it interesting enough to entertain an adult audience. It is a sweet story with passionate acting to say the least, but it fails in trying to send too many muffled messages at the same time. The entire film comes down to being a political campaign to say that adoption is ok because apparently in 2013 it is still frowned upon.
THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN is out on DVD and Blu Ray today.
