Blooming in theatres beginning August 15, The Odd Life of Timothy Green is the latest film from Academy Award®-nominated writer and director Peter Hedges (What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Dan in Real Life) and stars Jennifer Garner (Alias, Arthur), and Australian actor Joel Edgerton (Warrior) as Cindy and Jim Green, a young couple whose quiet but happy life is marred only by their inability to have children.
Late one evening, the Greens write down everything they would want their biological child to be—not “perfect,” of course, but a mirror of the best parts of each parent. After burying the notes in Cindy’s backyard garden, a mysterious storm appears—bringing with it an equally mysterious child. Quirky but utterly endearing, 10-year-old Timothy (CJ Adams) helps Cindy and Jim—as well as their entire town of Stanleyville, U.S.A.—learn that magic and healing are possible in the most unlikely of places.
It’s the story of what it means to be a parent . . .
Back in 2009, producers Ahmet Zappa (the story’s creator) and Scott Sanders approached Peter Hedges, the film’s writer and director, with the idea for the film. The tale’s core themes of home and family, coupled with the mystery behind the main character, struck a chord with the father of two teenage boys. “It’s the story of what it means to be a parent,” Peter explains. “I also felt that, while I’d written and will always write about family and what family means, I’d never had the opportunity to explore a story that had a magical component in it. This film asks us the question, ‘Do children belong to us?’ I’ve come to believe that our kids don’t belong to us—but that we belong to them.”
As with several of Peter’s works, The Odd Life of Timothy Green follows an extraordinary story set in an ordinary small town. From the moment leaf-sprouting Timothy appears in Cindy and Jim’s garden—shocking everyone, including Cindy’s perfectionist sister, Brenda (Rosemarie
DeWitt), and Jim’s distant father, James (David Morse)—he has an undeniable effect on Stanleyville’s residents. “There’s an accountability that exists in a small town; if someone misbehaves or does anything out of the ordinary, everyone knows,” Peter says with a laugh. “A small town is a big family, in many respects. Timothy Green felt like it would fit nicely in the small-town world that I frequently write about.”
Casting can make or break a movie, and Peter realized early on how important it’d be to find the perfect actors. “Jennifer Garner just breathes and eats and sleeps being a parent,” Peter says. “She loves her kids and her husband and her life—and everything is secondary to that. And Cindy Green is someone who wants what Jennifer has.”
Choosing the actor to play opposite Jennifer was equally as crucial. Peter saw Joel Edgerton in the 2011 fi lm Warrior and knew he had to be a part of the film. Fortunately, Jennifer and Joel’s chemistry was evident from the very first time they auditioned together. “Within moments of them starting to read together, it was so obvious that they were going to be fantastic,” Peter says.
But it was finding a boy to play Timothy that proved most challenging. Peter had directed then-six-year-old CJ Adams in 2007’s Dan in Real Life, and the two formed a special bond during the making of the fi lm. Initially, Peter wondered if—just a few years later—CJ had grown enough as an actor to take on such a complex role. Turns out his worries were unfounded. “I never thought that he would get the part,” Peter admits, “because he’d only ever done Dan in Real Life. But each time he came back to audition, he got better and better—and there came a moment when it was just evident to all watching that he was Timothy.”
It’s a movie that aspires to amuse you and break your heart in multiple ways . . .
All told, Peter is particularly pleased he was able to make a gentle, funny, heartwarming film at a time when superheroes and action stars are often found leaping from screen to screen. “I know I’ll look back and feel proud that we were able to make this kind of film at this time,” he says. “It’s a movie that aspires to amuse you and break your heart in multiple ways. I know I’ll also be proud of what this film is about—that life is a gift, and that children teach us if we let them. We’re trying to remind the audience that there’s only so much time, and that we better get living and loving.”
Look for The Odd Life of Timothy Green to sprout into a cineplex near you on August 15!
