Caught a screening of The Odd Life of Timothy Green tonight.
I was oddly touched by the trailer and I was really excited to see it.
By the end of the movie? Completely in tears. (This is the part where my friend Lauren smiles while simultaneously cursing the universe that she wasn't there to witness this momentous ocurrence.)
Also, just FYI, my girl-crush on Jennifer Garner still remains.
Here: A childless couple bury a box in their backyard, containing all of their wishes for a baby. Soon, a child is born, though Timothy Green is not all that he appears...
This - the photo above - was my favorite moment in the movie. It encapsulated all of the hope and tenacity I felt walking out of the theater afterward. It was earnest. AND, there was WINE - so I totally related.
I don't think it's a big secret - though I hesitate to say it out loud... Well, I've never had my heart set on being a mother. Frankly, kids scare the crap out of me. I like other people's kids just fine; you can give them back when they start to cry or smell funny. But I've never felt like I needed my own. Though to be objective, I'm willing to concede that could change.
I acknowledge that part of the problem is within myself. Sometimes (Ok, a LOT of the time), I feel so screwed up that I could NEVER bring another life into this world, let alone one I'd be completely responsible for. It's a miracle I can dress myself in the morning -- how could I change diapers?
But I can say that sometimes the idea of adoption has been really appealing to me (my mother, if she's reading this, is either really happy, surprised or confused -- or all three -- by now). Since I don't feel like I have this ticking clock (does that really happen to people?) and I don't feel some bizarre desire to push something the size of a watermelon out of a hole the size of lemon, why wouldn't I give a home to a child that needs one? Why wouldn't I love that child as if it were "my own," if not more. (I recently read in a book "Adoption means you grew in your mommy's heart instead of her tummy." That's such a warm sentiment.)
Don't worry - I would never do this now. I'm not promising I would ever do it at all. It's just me thinking out loud. That movie made me think.
Damn you movie! *shakey fists*
More specifically, about the movie, I loved Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton as a couple. I loved Edgerton in The Warrior. I've been a fan of Garner's since "Alias." I loved the little boy who played Timothy, CJ Thomas (I mean, he's 12 and he's got more talent than some people three times his age). I abolsutely LOVED Lin Manuel Miranda and wish he'd had a bigger part (Hint: deleted scenes, Disney). I still think Shoreh Aghdashloo is STUNNING and should work more. Diane Wiest is RIDICULOUS and I need to watch Bullets Over Broadway again soon. Ron Livingston looked OLD and all I could think is that I would totally break up with him on a post-it note and not feel bad about it.
Anyway...
I thought it was a lovely, magical movie. Take your mother, daughter, sister, girlfriend, cousin -- take someone you love and go see it.
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