The Odd Life of Timothy Green — An adoption movie review
Movie: The Odd Life of Timothy Green
Director: Peter Hedges
Published: 2012
Rating: PG
Summary: “‘The Odd Life of Timothy Green’is an inspiring, magical story about a happily married couple, Cindy and Jim Green, who can’t wait to start a family but can only dream about what their child would be like. When young Timothy 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” from rottentomatoes.com.
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
What this movie did well
The use of color and leaves throughout this movie are excellent and make the movie look visually appealing. The actors make the characters come to life and seem relatable, especially during the emotional scenes.
Themes of adoption are strong throughout this movie and are addressed in a wonderful way. The prejudices of the people in this movie against foster or adopted children are taken seriously and put down. There is some awkwardness between some children, who were born from their mother’s stomach, and the main character Timothy, who came from a garden (which could be a metaphor for the foster care system). This awkwardness is realistic, and children who are adopted in real life can most likely feel Timothy’s confusion. The way the parents end up adopting a child named Lily at the end of the movie is cute and heartwarming, too.
To learn more about adoption, feel free to check out some resources from Adoption Choices.
What it could do better
“The Odd Life of Timothy Green” doesn’t have a good plot. It’s predictable and doesn’t have a climax. Each scene feels a little too dragged out, and sometimes they even seem unnecessary. The idea of a child having leaves on their legs could’ve been given more magical properties to bring the story to life. Instead, the story is a typical tale of a child being bullied but still shining through to the end.
While the parents grow as characters a little bit, Timothy stays the same. He’s bubbly and fun, and he’s honestly the best part of “The Odd Life of Timothy Green.” However, even Timothy fell flat at times. Viewers only get to see a new side to him towards the end of the movie. His only real fault is that he’s bad at soccer. There could’ve been a little more depth to Timothy as a character.
Who should watch this movie
Young children would have a hard time paying attention to this movie, as it is not as magical as it could be. Someone looking for a sweet movie with hardly any plot could watch “The Odd Life of Timothy Green.” One could also watch it to learn more about infertility and adoption, although those interesting elements take a backseat to Timothy’s school life.
Read more adoption movie reviews by Brynne:
