The Odd Life of Timothy Green

Hubs and I recently took advantage of an invitation to view The Odd Life of Timothy Green, starring Jennifer Garner, Joel Edgerton, and CJ Adams. The story, written by Ahmet Zappa with screenplay by Peter Hedges, unfolds with a happily married couple, Cindy and Jim Green, who have been trying to start a family and are devastated to learn that they will not be able to conceive. They refuse to give up their dream and spend an evening describing what their child would be like, using a notepad and a No. 2 pencil.

The Odd Life Of Timothy Green

When young Timothy (CJ Adams) shows up on their doorstep one stormy night, Cindy and Jim learn that life’s greatest gifts are often unexpected.

When I go to screen a movie, I always take a notepad and pen, so I can keep a “cuss count.” Sadly, even a lot PG movies have inappropriate language, curse words, or inappropriate use of God’s name in them. So, in my notetaking, I make a line for the cuss count and a line labeled GN for inappropriate uses of God’s name. I am happy to say that the cuss count ended up with zero tally marks. Unfortunately, I did catch three inappropriate uses of God’s name (another viewer counted four).

There were no steamy scenes, no gross immodesty (some girls are shown in two piece bathing suits in a pool scene, but otherwise, everyone was well clad), and no outright vulgarity.

The story itself is sweet. It will make you laugh and it will make you cry.

The most poignant moment, for me, was when Cindy’s sister quips, at a family gathering, that she thought Cindy and Jim were trying to have kids of their own. As an adoptive Mom, it hit home. I can’t tell you how many times well meaning people make barbed comments that pierce an adoptive Mom’s heart. Comments that imply that an adopted child is any less your “own” or “real” child are just unnecessary and insensitive. I loved Cindy’s response, “He felt like my own from the first moment I saw him.” Exactly how I feel about my daughter.

My husband and I both enjoyed the movie and would recommend it to friends. It was an *almost* spotless film with a great storyline and makes for a great family film. I don’t know how I would explain Timothy’s appearance to my kids, other than how Cindy described it, “sort of miraculous.”

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THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN is now playing in theaters everywhere and is rated PG.

***We received complimentary passes to view this movie. All opinions are my own.***