Thursday, August 16, 2012

The Odd Life of Timothy Green [2012]

MPAA (PG)  CNS/USCCB (A-II)  Roger Ebert (3 1/2 Stars)  Fr. Dennis (3 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing -
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1462769/
CNS/USCCB review -
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/movies/12mv092.htm
Roger Ebert's review -
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120814/REVIEWS/120819995

The Odd Life of Timothy Green (screenplay and directed by Peter Hedges, story by Ahmet Zappa [IMDb]) is a gentle family-friendly story about a couple, Jim and Cindy Green (played by Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Garner respectively), who are trying have a family.

The film begins with them being interviewed at an adoption agency and the interviewer wondering why in the space normally reserved for an extended response answering the question "Why do you think you would be good parents?" the two had simply written "Tim Green."  They answer, "Because the story's so complicated that you'd simply need to hear us out."  The interviewer gives them some leeway ... and the rest of the story continues from there ;-).

Basically, the couple who was living in a small town somewhere in the mountains (I'm guessing in either New England or the American Pacific Northwest) had tried for years to have a child.  After finally being told definitively by their doctor that "no" they'll never be able to have biological children of their own, to cope with their grief, the two decide write down on little pieces of note paper the characteristics of the "child of their dreams."  When they collected a sufficient number of such "hopes" they had for such a child (which included that he'd "never give up", "be honest (to a fault)," have his mother's artistic ability, that "he'd rock!", and at least once in his life, he'd "score the winning goal" in a game, etc) they collected the pieces of paper that they wrote those ideas on, put them in a box and buried it in their garden ... and ... went to sleep.

Well, there was a storm that night.  Waking-up in the middle of the night, they find to their surprise a little boy named Tim all covered with mud with a small number of leaves growing out of his feet.  And he calls them "mom" and "dad" ... Yes, parents probably more than your kids ... you'll struggle with holding back tears at times.

Well much ensues.  It's late summer when the story begins and the leaves on his legs "play a role" (actually a number of roles).  But that's all that I'm gonna say... ;-) 

It's just a lovely, lovely, lovely story about a couple that's really wanted to become parents ... and a kid that came to them quite literally "out of the cabbage patch."  Great, great job folks!  Great, great job! ;-)


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