The Odd Life of Timothy Green Review
Life brings many surprises, especially for the Greens. Cindy and Jim Green (Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton) are a happily married couple eager to start a family. However their dreams are shattered when the doctor tells them that conceiving a child will be impossible. While grieving their awful news, they fill a small wooden box with notes describing characteristics of what they hoped their child would be like. They dig a hole in their vegetable garden and plant their special wooden box. The next morning a 10-year old boy named Timothy appears at their house calling them “mom,” and “dad;” a true surprise, one they’ve always dreamed of. The Odd Life of Timothy Green is a Disney story about the trials and joys of parenting. This is a heartwarming film for the whole family.
Rating: 4 and 1/2 buckets
Release Date: December 4, 2012
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 6+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Mild
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Kids Like It? Maybe
Talking Points:
Parents will enjoy this film, and will be able to relate to Timothy’s parents. They wanted to protect him, comfort him and wanted the best for their son! Timothy’s mom (Jennifer Garner) says, “It’s not that we wanted him to be perfect, we wanted it to be perfect. His childhood.”
Timothy is an odd character, though an adorable, loving boy. In the movie they say, “it’s okay to be different.” A good parent/child conversation.
Though Timothy’s parents loved him more than anything, they made mistakes, and struggled with different parenting issues; as we all do at times. When asked what they would do differently, they said they’d make new mistakes, maybe even more of them.
Kids may get bored as the film has a mature subject matter about parenting. Having said that Timothy is cute fun loving boy, which kids will enjoy. There are some funny parts geared towards kids.
Sexual Content: Mild
- Timothy and Joni (a girl he has a crush on) almost kiss. They have a cute relationship.
- Timothy’s parents decide to give him, “The Talk,” however they get distracted by a family emergency.
- Since Timothy came from a garden, younger kids may have questions about where they came from.
Violent Content: Mild
- Timothy gets bullied by his classmates.
- Kids smear food and ice cream on Timothy’s face.
Crude or Profane Language: None
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
- Character’s drink wine.
Will Kids Like It? Maybe
- I interviewed kids ages 6 to 8 who liked the movie. Having said that I feel that this is more of a grown-up film, one especially for parents!
Overall this is a wonderful, endearing story. Because of the mature subject matter, I’m not sure all kids will enjoy the film. However the content is appropriate for kids ages 6 and up.
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