"The Odd Life of Timothy Green" is a charming little movie that is better than most of the detritus that comes out of theaters in August. It's very sweet and contains no objectionable material. That said, it didn't stay with me after I saw it. The movie opens with a couple (Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton) cautioning an adoption agency that they do have previous experience, but the story they are about to tell is going to hard to believe. Indeed it is. Told after trying everything that they can't have a child, the Greens get drunk that night, make a list of all the traits they'd want in a child and bury the box in their backyard garden. Amazingly, a mud-caked boy with leaves growing from his calves appears after a rainstorm. This is Timothy of the title. However, he has a secret, which the Greens sense but do not figure out until late in the movie. It is beautifully shot in a Disneyworld movie town which, despite the drought, is filled with green countryside and changing, fall leaves. The boy is, of course, there to teach important lessons about accepting difference, and others of the type you typically get in a Disney movie. The characters could use more development, but it's a pleasant enough diversion for the end of summer.

Starring:

Common, Cullen Moss, David Morse, Dianne Wiest, Dwayne Boyd, Gene Jones, James Rebhorn, Jason Davis, Jennifer Garner, Jim Keisler, Joe Walsh, Joel Edgerton, Jon Gould, Lois Smith, M Emmet Walsh, Melody Johnson, Michael Beasley, Rhoda Griffis, Ron Livingston, Rosemarie DeWitt, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Steve Coulter, Steve Warren, Tim Guinee, Tim Ware

Genre:

Comedy, Drama, Fantasy