First of all, let me give this disclaimer. I am one of the background actors in the movie (African-American male at the picnic, soccer games, factory and town hall), so there might be a little bias.
The movie is actually very good, but, alas, is a Disney film and Disney tends to keep their movies under two hours to match the attention span of the intended audiences.
That said, this movie could have used another 15-20 minutes to help flesh out the main and supporting characters. Having spent almost 20 days on the set, I can say director Peter Hedges (About A Boy, What's Eating Gilbert Grape) probably did have such a film only to have to cut another chunk or two.
Sadly, those chunks would have helped.
The story begins with Jim Green (Joel Edgerton) and his wife Cindy (Jennifer Garner) talking to an adoption agency administrator (Shohreh Aghdashloo). The Greens have left key portions of their paperwork empty -- the parts concerning prior experience and why they would make good parents. For that, Jim and Cindy decide to recount the odd life of Timothy Green.
From there, we see, in flashback, Jim and Cindy being told by a doctor that Cindy cannot get pregnant. The couple go home to cry about it, but Jim doesn't want to give up. So, he puts all the wishes he's had for a children on paper and encourages Cindy to do the same. They bury the wishes in a box in a hole in the garden.
A strange rain storm hits. When Jim and Cindy investigate, they find a mysterious boy covered in mud in the room they'd set aside for the kid that would never be born. His name is Timothy and he's soon calling Jim and Cindy Dad and Mom. And he has a big secret -- he's got leaves growing out of his ankles, leaves so strong and natural that local florist Reggie (Lin-Manuel Sanders) breaks his shears trying to snip them.
Afterward, the story goes in a whirlwind. Timothy is introduced to the rest of the family -- Cindy's sister Brenda (Rosemarie DeWitt), Uncle Bub (M. Emmet Walsh), Uncle Mel (Lois Smith) and Jim's dad, Big Jim (David Morse)-- as well as friends (Gregory Marshall Smith, Paul Kakos, Sonia Guzman, Chance Bartels, Paul Barlow Jr., among others. It's here we see the effects of the editing as the introductions of these characters is missing, leaving us a bit confused. We know Jim and Big Jim don't see eye to eye but we get no real sense of the tension. We learn Brenda is more successful than Cindy and has three kids but we can't get a feel for the sibling rivalry. Uncle Bub and Aunt Mel look like they were thrown in.
And this is how much of the film plays out. When we meet Bernice Crudstaff (Oscar winner Dianne Wiest), whose father started the town's pencil factory, we only catch glimpses and only learn her name later. Her husband, Joseph (James Rebhorn), is virtually a ghost, getting perhaps two scenes. Their son Franklin (Ron Livingston) runs the pencil factory and is supposed to be a hard case but we only see a few wisps of his snobbery, including at the crucial town meeting where he gets called on the carpet.
About the most interesting parts of the movie are Joni Jerome (Odeya Rush), a local girl with her own little secret, and Coach Cal (rapper Common), who treats Timothy as a mere water boy for the factory's soccer team. Joni gets a chance to reveal her secret and find a friend (and vice versa for Timothy), while Coach learns it's more about gamesmanship than winning.
Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Garner make a charming and believable couple, but C.J. Adams, who plays Timothy, steals the show. He ably and superbly plays all of the emotional weight put upon his shoulders as he has to emulate all of the wishes of his movie parents.
Knowing what I know of the production, I honestly believe another 15-20 minutes of footage from the Scott Sanders/Ahmet Zappa production could have done wonders for plot and character development.
Overall, though, it was a very good film that could have been better. For now, just revel in Timothy's wonder, Jim and Cindy's growth as parents and the fun of the soccer games. Yes, it's odd but so is the life of Timothy Green.
The movie is actually very good, but, alas, is a Disney film and Disney tends to keep their movies under two hours to match the attention span of the intended audiences.
That said, this movie could have used another 15-20 minutes to help flesh out the main and supporting characters. Having spent almost 20 days on the set, I can say director Peter Hedges (About A Boy, What's Eating Gilbert Grape) probably did have such a film only to have to cut another chunk or two.
Sadly, those chunks would have helped.
The story begins with Jim Green (Joel Edgerton) and his wife Cindy (Jennifer Garner) talking to an adoption agency administrator (Shohreh Aghdashloo). The Greens have left key portions of their paperwork empty -- the parts concerning prior experience and why they would make good parents. For that, Jim and Cindy decide to recount the odd life of Timothy Green.
From there, we see, in flashback, Jim and Cindy being told by a doctor that Cindy cannot get pregnant. The couple go home to cry about it, but Jim doesn't want to give up. So, he puts all the wishes he's had for a children on paper and encourages Cindy to do the same. They bury the wishes in a box in a hole in the garden.
A strange rain storm hits. When Jim and Cindy investigate, they find a mysterious boy covered in mud in the room they'd set aside for the kid that would never be born. His name is Timothy and he's soon calling Jim and Cindy Dad and Mom. And he has a big secret -- he's got leaves growing out of his ankles, leaves so strong and natural that local florist Reggie (Lin-Manuel Sanders) breaks his shears trying to snip them.
Afterward, the story goes in a whirlwind. Timothy is introduced to the rest of the family -- Cindy's sister Brenda (Rosemarie DeWitt), Uncle Bub (M. Emmet Walsh), Uncle Mel (Lois Smith) and Jim's dad, Big Jim (David Morse)-- as well as friends (Gregory Marshall Smith, Paul Kakos, Sonia Guzman, Chance Bartels, Paul Barlow Jr., among others. It's here we see the effects of the editing as the introductions of these characters is missing, leaving us a bit confused. We know Jim and Big Jim don't see eye to eye but we get no real sense of the tension. We learn Brenda is more successful than Cindy and has three kids but we can't get a feel for the sibling rivalry. Uncle Bub and Aunt Mel look like they were thrown in.
And this is how much of the film plays out. When we meet Bernice Crudstaff (Oscar winner Dianne Wiest), whose father started the town's pencil factory, we only catch glimpses and only learn her name later. Her husband, Joseph (James Rebhorn), is virtually a ghost, getting perhaps two scenes. Their son Franklin (Ron Livingston) runs the pencil factory and is supposed to be a hard case but we only see a few wisps of his snobbery, including at the crucial town meeting where he gets called on the carpet.
About the most interesting parts of the movie are Joni Jerome (Odeya Rush), a local girl with her own little secret, and Coach Cal (rapper Common), who treats Timothy as a mere water boy for the factory's soccer team. Joni gets a chance to reveal her secret and find a friend (and vice versa for Timothy), while Coach learns it's more about gamesmanship than winning.
Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Garner make a charming and believable couple, but C.J. Adams, who plays Timothy, steals the show. He ably and superbly plays all of the emotional weight put upon his shoulders as he has to emulate all of the wishes of his movie parents.
Knowing what I know of the production, I honestly believe another 15-20 minutes of footage from the Scott Sanders/Ahmet Zappa production could have done wonders for plot and character development.
Overall, though, it was a very good film that could have been better. For now, just revel in Timothy's wonder, Jim and Cindy's growth as parents and the fun of the soccer games. Yes, it's odd but so is the life of Timothy Green.