Tag Archives: Rosemarie DeWitt

The Odd Life of Timothy Green

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The Odd Life of Timothy Green


2012
Story by Ahmet Zappa
Screenplay and directed by Peter Hedges

Burying this box made out of the bones of 100 sacrificed infants in our garden that used to be an old Indian burial plot won’t have any negative consequences, ever! Also Jumanji is in this box. For some reason.

A family film that is a great thing to bring your young children to, The Odd Life of Timothy Green won’t be earning much street cred from older viewers looking for a dark and sinister turn of a mysterious vegetable child who emerges from the garden of a childless couple to enhance their lives. The film is sugary sweet and mixes the trials of growing up different with the trials of being a parent. And I find Timothy Green guilty…of being enjoyable! Okay, sorry, that joke was awful. Before we continue, I must confess this was yet another free screening that I scored tickets to. In fact, The Odd Life of Timothy Green released so many free tickets and screenings it was hard not to get tickets. Now let’s meet the cast!

She has the magical powers of HGTV!

Cindy Green (Jennifer Garner) – Cindy Green works at a museum for the pencil factory and spends most of the film being various forms of neurotic and reserved. After Timothy enters her life, she trades that in for being more outgoing but also worried. It takes a while for the changes to sink in and transform her fully.
Jim Green (Joel Edgerton) – Working class husband and pencil factory supervisor working under the owner’s nephew. Has resentment issues over his own father not being there much while he was growing up. Both of the Greens carry added stress from being unable to conceive, which just multiplies their personal problems.
Timothy Green (CJ Adams) – A mysterious child who sprang from the garden and a box full of wishes for the fantasy child of the Greens. He’s very casual about the whole thing. Has leaves on his legs.
Joni Jerome (Odeya Rush) – Odd girl at school who has a secret, and instantly spots that Timothy does as well. The pair becomes very close, almost to the point where he spends more time with her than with his parents.
This is a happy movie!

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A Little Bit of Heaven

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A Little Bit of Heaven


2011
Directed by Nicole Kassell

There have been a few tries to put cancer in comedies in the past couple of years, most of which have had mixed-to-bad results, because cancer isn’t really that funny. So of course the next step is a weepy romantic comedy about dealing with cancer and finding love! Even weirder, it’s pretty much marketed as a romantic comedy even though is blurs more over into the drama category. But, despite the fact it’s getting awful awful reviews, A Little Bit of Heaven isn’t awful (or even awful awful), it’s far more complicated than that…

Marley Corbett is a carefree woman who seems like she has it all going on. She’s a young hip girl in the city, just scoring a big promotion and living life and partying. Working hard and playing hard. All that cliched jazz. Her biggest worry and biggest love is her pet bulldog, while men are nothing but a list of bootycalls. She has a whole cadre of friends who join her on her adventures.

But things aren’t going all that great in Marley’s life, unexplained loss of weight, bloody stools…something bad is on the horizon. After a visit to the very handsome Dr. Julian Goldstein, she’s diagnosed with advanced colon cancer. Of course, Marley is too busy having fun to take any of this seriously. She shocks her friends with her announcement done in a flippant way, unaware or uncaring about the shock she put them through. Her attitude begins to have some cracks after a colonoscopy shows things are worse than they thought and the only hope in an experimental procedure that might work or might not. It’s also during this colonoscopy that she has her first vision of the afterlife…

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