The Odd Life of Timothy Green – in Theaters August 15th

Every now and then a movie is made that has such heart and such a tender message that you feel compelled to see it in the theater, The Odd Life of Timothy Green is one these movies. It is a real human interest story with a sincere real-life touching moral.
The Odd Life of Timothy Green is heavily emotionally based, but is off set with whimsical humor and light heartedness; I adored the combination of the two. There is plenty of whimsy and fun and a magical element to the film that will keep you and your children entertained. On the other hand however, I do guarantee that you will cry during this film. In fact, so does Jennifer Garner.

To ROCK

In the film, Cindy and Jim Green cannot have children of their own. As a means of therapeutic coping, one night over wine they create their “perfect” child. A child who can score the winning goal, be funny like Uncle Bub, love and be loved, be a Picasso with a pencil, be honest to a fault (my favorite), never give up, have a good heart and ROCK.

To Love and Be Loved

 Then one stormy night, their perfect child arrives and throughout the film, teaches his parents Jim and Cindy that life is messy and emotional and not always perfect, but if you live in the moment, the moment that is happening right now you can see and truly appreciate just how beautiful and simple life really is.

My oldest and I

I have had the honor of fully immersing myself in this film, from attending a “green carpet” media screening to having the unique opportunity to interview Joel Edgerton (Jim Green), Peter Hedges (Director/Screenwriter) and Odeya Rush (Jodi). I am been eagerly anticipating being able to share with all of you what I have experienced.

Directly after our family fun day at Griffith park sponsored by Frigidaire (which you can re-read about here!), my son and I were shuttled to a special “green carpet” media screening of The Odd Life of Timothy Green at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood. We were able to walk the green carpet, take pictures in front of the step and repeat, be photographed by paparazzi and feel like movie stars. It was really cool. The inside of Grauman’s Chinese Theater is gorgeous, it was truly the perfect setting to see this film.

Here is the link to my Flickr photo set. Check them out!

I took part of a unique opportunity via Google + Play to interview Joel Edgerton (Jim Green) and Peter Hedges (Director/Screenwriter) on Wednesday, August 1st.
Here is the interview, I show up at about 15:25:

We were told we could ask 1 question each for time limit purposes. I had a hard time choosing just 1 question as I had several thousand rolling around in my brain. The baby was supposed to be sleeping, but of course life doesn’t go as planned and he was awake and active during the interview. Which actually ended up being awesome. The older kids were upstairs jumping on my bed and having a schmorgesborg of candy, chips and juice to keep them happy and quiet. I think I even promised ice cream if they stayed upstairs and quiet too. I’m happy to announce that I am clearly winning the mom award for 2012.

My question for both Joel Edgerton and Peter Hedges was simple, but yet so poignant. I wanted to ask a specific question that was directly related to the movie and not about their personal lives, previous projects or something random. As you can see during the interview, they both answered with a great amount of genuine thought. I fell in love with both of them but especially Peter Hedges. Peter’s ideas and general outlook on life and parenting are pure and refreshing.

My goobers with Odeya Rush

On Tuesday August 7th, my children and I were invited to the Disney Studio’s in Burbank to interview Odeya Rush (Jodi) in person. This was an amazing experience and one that my children and I will not soon forget. Well, I will always remember the 1 on 1 interview with Odeya Rush but they will always remember the endless supply of chewy snacks, grapes and goldfish crackers that were available in the waiting room.

Odeya Rush is a Israel born young actress whom is super sweet and just happens to have 10,000 brothers. In all honesty, that was my ice breaker for my interview. I told her that I had read that morning that she had 10,000 brothers and if having that many helped her career as an actress. Thankfully, she has a sense of humor and she found me funny. She thought the kids were cute as my daughter couldn’t stop saying “Memo” (Nemo) because of a Nemo plant pot on the table and bouncing on the sofa.

I told Odeya that I had the opportunity to interview Joel Edgerton and Peter Hedges the week before and informed her that I had asked them what their favorite scenes were. I gave her the hint that she was in both of their favorite scenes, but that I would not tell her what those scenes were until she told me what her favorite was first. Sneaky sneaky right?
Odeya said her favorite scene to shoot was the underwater scene at the birthday party. Which, if you watched the above clip was also Peter Hedges favorite scene too.

At the end of all of this, what I have been the most impressed with is the realness of the actors. Peter Hedges is a true master of human interest stories and choosing actors that can portray real human conflict and emotion. The Odd Life of Timothy Green is a really great movie and I honestly want you all to see it. It will be in a theater near you on August 15th.