The Odd Life of Timothy Green

Plot

The film is told from the perspective of Cindy (Jennifer Garner) and Jim Green (Joel Edgerton), as they explain their experience with Timothy (CJ Adams) in an effort to persuade an adoption agency to allow the couple to adopt a child.

Cindy, who works in the town's local museum, and Jim, who is employed at the town's historic pencil factory, reside in the drought-stricken town of Stanleyville, North Carolina, self-labeled as "the pencil capital of the world". The Greens are informed by doctors that they are unable to conceive. Distraught by the news, Jim convinces Cindy to dream up their ideal child and write the child's characteristics and life events on slips of notepad paper.

The couple place the notes inside a wooden box and bury it in their backyard garden. After an immediate thunderstorm, which seemingly affects only their property, a ten-year-old arrives at their home claiming the Greens as his parents. After finding the box they buried smashed to pieces around a large hole in the ground where they originally buried it, and finding the boy inside their house, covered in mud, they realize that the boy, named Timothy, is actually a culmination of all their wishes of what their child would be. The Greens also discover that Timothy has a startling feature: he has leaves growing on his legs, which he can only cover up by wearing long tube socks.

The next day, at a family picnic, Timothy is introduced to members of his family: Brenda Best (Rosemarie DeWitt), Cindy's pompous sister; James Green Sr. (David Morse), Jim's estranged father; and Mel (Lois Smith) and Bub (M. Emmet Walsh), Cindy's paternal aunt and uncle. The parents take Timothy to their friend and town botanist, Reggie (Lin-Manuel Miranda), where they learn that Timothy's leaves cannot be removed.

Timothy begins to attend school, where he meets Joni Jerome (Odeya Rush), a girl he encounters during a bullying incident, with whom he begins a friendly relationship. Meanwhile, the town's pencil factory, the largest employer in Stanleyville, begins laying off its employees. Timothy convinces Cindy and Jim to design a prototype for a new pencil in an effort to keep the pencil-producing business viable.

Unbeknownst to the parents, one of Timothy's leaves falls off each time he fulfills one of the qualities listed on the original slips of paper. Timothy eventually reveals to Cindy and Jim that his time of existence is short and that he will eventually disappear. During another intense thunderstorm, he vanishes from their house.

The Greens' meeting with the adoption counselor concludes with Cindy presenting a letter that Timothy left them before leaving. In the letter, he explains to them what he did with each of his leaves that fell off, with a montage sequence showing each person whose life Timothy touched. After an unspecified amount of time, the adoption counselor is shown pulling up to the Greens' house in a car with the little girl who is to become the Greens' daughter, Lily.

Production

In June 2009, Peter Hedges was signed to write and direct the film, which stemmed from an idea brought about by Ahmet Zappa through his production company Monsterfoot Productions. The film is one of the first films produced by Scott Sanders Productions after a deal with the Walt Disney Studios was made in 2007.

Soundtrack

Walt Disney Records released Geoff Zanelli's score from the soundtrack on August 14, 2012, the day before the film's release.

Critical response

The Odd Life of Timothy Green was met with a mixed to negative reception. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 34% of critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 5.2 out of 10, offering the consensus: "It means well, but The Odd Life of Timothy Green is ultimately too cloyingly sentimental—and thinly scripted—to satisfy all but the least demanding viewers." Mary Pols of Time wrote, "This is a movie about old-time values, a movie with Frank Capra aspirations. But Timothy’s life, his very conception by Zappa and Hedges, is definitely more odd than wonderful." Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune, praised the film's art direction and cast, "It's an elegant, honeyed production, photographed (in Georgia) by cinematographer John Toll, and it's full of interesting actors." However, he differed on the script saying, "this fable of the gifted child doesn't go for the throat as it goes about its odd business." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times was more enthusiastic in his 3½ star review, calling it "a warm and lovely fantasy... on a picture-postcard farm in the middle of endlessly rolling hills where it is always Indian Summer" adding that "instead of being simpleminded like too many family films, it treats the characters with care and concern."

Box office

The film had a $2.3 million debut on August 15. It made $7.6 million in three days and finished the five-day weekend off with $15,100,918 domestically. The film grossed $51.9 million in North America.

Home media

The Odd Life of Timothy Green was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on Blu-ray and DVD on December 4, 2012.