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Blu-ray Review The Odd Life of Timothy Green Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

Matt Hough

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You either buy into the fantastical premise of Peter Hedges’ The Odd Life of Timothy Green or you don’t, but if you do, you’ll be treated to a loving and bittersweet family tale with the impact of It’s a Wonderful Life or Field of Dreams, two films the director particularly wanted to emulate in their tone and texture. And much of it works thanks to a clever script and some indelible and heartrending performances that keep the audience’s rooting interest high for the film’s protagonists.





The Odd Life of Timothy Green (Blu-ray Combo Pack)
Directed by Peter Hedges

Studio: Disney
Year: 2012
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1   1080p   AVC codec
Running Time: 105 minutes
Rating: PG
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English; Dolby Digital 5.1 French, Spanish
Subtitles:  SDH, French, Spanish

Region: A-B-C
MSRP: $ 39.99


Release Date: December 4, 2012

Review Date: November 27, 2012




The Film

4/5


Devastated by their inability to conceive a child despite all their efforts and at considerable expense, Cindy (Jennifer Garner) and Jim (Joel Edgerton) Green write out all their hopes and wishes for the ideal but realistic child they’d want to raise and plant the slips of paper in their garden. During the night, a mystical rain helps germinate a ten-year old boy named Timothy (CJ Adams) with leaves sprouting from his legs but who otherwise appears normal. Overjoyed, the young couple enroll him in school and begin the process of being the best parents they can to him. Of course, they make lots of mistakes and fail to notice that the leaves on his legs (which they keep covered attempting to keep the secret of his birth to themselves) are turning brown and dropping off, a sure sign that Timothy’s time with them is quite limited.


From an idea by Ahmet Zappa, the tender and amicable script by director Peter Hedges scores points by not making Timothy the perfect child (though he is filled with the joy of life and the necessity of absorbing nature’s beauty which makes him almost glow) nor are the parents models of adult perfection in their raising of him. But Timothy’s obvious  necessity in their lives is to give them a “dry run” as it were for a possible real child down the road, a point made clear when we see the parents recounting their experiences with Timothy to adoption agency representative Evette Onat (Shohreh Aghdashloo) in a framing device that also interrupts the story from time to time. But the film scores most of its points for its humanity and compassion in scenes of family gatherings, not always harmoniously with Cindy’s obnoxious, competitive, and overly controlling sister Brenda (Rosemarie DeWitt ) but with the cookouts, soccer games, and family dinners which bring the story close to home with all viewers. There are subplots involving an ostracized neighborhood girl (Odeya Rush) Timothy helps to rid of her shyness and problems at the pencil manufacturing plant where Jim works, all of which tie together by film’s end, but you’ll remember the family scenes the most, and they’re directed with a steadfastness but mostly lack of show by Peter Hedges (who does occasionally get carried away with circular camera movement and has some logic lapses in his script that rankle after the fact) that focuses on pure emotions without an overriding amount of sentiment. Still, you’d have to have a heart of stone not to have tear-filled eyes by the end.


CJ Adams is an exceptional child actor, and he brings to Timothy an inner warmth and goodness that reads superbly on the screen throughout the film. Despite their struggles to do the right thing at all times, Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton make a most believable and lovable couple, their bull session in deciding what their ideal child would be early on being one of the most vivid of the many scenes involving them together where they play with such real ease and affection with one another. Rosemarie DeWitt plays the sister you love to hate with incredible fidelity to her unbearable ego and smarmy putdowns, and the monsters at Jim’s pencil factory including humorless Dianne Wiest and sneaky Ron Livingston do well with rather one-dimensional characters. M. Emmet Walsh makes a wonderfully lovable Uncle Bub while David Morse as Jim’s selfish father is his polar opposite (but also wonderfully acted).



Video Quality

5/5


The film’s 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio is presented in a faithful 1080p transfer using the AVC codec. The excellence of the transfer never calls attention to itself, but it truly is a beautiful sight to behold: sharp with exceptional detail in facial features and with vivid color that is always firmly under control (autumn colors are particularly striking). Flesh tones are entirely natural throughout, and black levels are outstanding. The film has been divided into 20 chapters.



Audio Quality

4/5


The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix makes good use of the entire soundstage at the film’s most vivid moment: the terrific thunderstorm that brings forth the rain that helps to grow Timothy along with an expert spreading of Geoff Zanelli’s plaintive soundtrack themes through the fronts and rears at opportune moments. Elsewhere, the soundfield isn’t exploited for maximum advantage (those soccer games could have had more activity in the rear channels), but dialogue throughout is well recorded and has been placed in the center channel.



Special Features

3/5


The audio commentary is contributed by director Peter Hedges. His deeply felt love of the story, the cast, and the crew comes forth in all of his comments as he works his way through the movie, but his comments aren’t on the whole a necessity even for fans of the film.


All of the bonus video material is presented in 1080p.


“Family Roots” is the making-of documentary for the movie though there isn’t that much detail given. This features brief interviews with director Peter Hedges and stars Jennifer Garner, Joel Edgerton (for those who didn’t know, his accent will come as a surprise), CJ Adams, Odeya Rush, and Ron Livingston. It runs 10 ¼ minutes.


“The Gift of Music” features director Peter Hedges discussing the importance of music to his film and brief interviews with background score composer Geoff Zanelli and Oscar-winning songwriter Glen Hansard who contributed the song behind the closing credits. This runs 9 ½ minutes.


“This Gift” music video is performed by its composer Glen Hansard and runs 4 ¾ minutes.


There are five deleted scenes which may viewed separately or in a 5 ¾-minute grouping. There is also optional director commentary available for these five sequences.


There are promo trailers for Finding Nemo 3D and Oz the Great and Powerful.


The second disc in the set is the DVD version of the movie.



In Conclusion

4/5 (not an average)


A lovely family-based fantasy with sweet lessons on childrearing that are never lachrymose, The Odd Life of Timothy Green makes for a more than pleasant evening of family entertainment. The Blu-ray features an exceptional picture and very good sound and some decent bonus material. Recommended!




Matt Hough

Charlotte, NC

 

Adam Gregorich

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Thanks Matt. I may have to give it a shot. The trailer wasn't enough to get me interested, but your review is....
 

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