With Disney's recent acquisition of Lucasfilm and the Star Wars empire, they have become one of the most powerful entertainment entities in history. And yet, I get the feeling that this won't change Disney at its core. They'll still maintain the middle-of-the road programming on Disney Channel, release as many direct-to-video "Puppies/Paws" movies a year as they can, and deliver top-notch animated and live-action theatrical films. Yes, Disney is one of the more predictable companies in Hollywood, no matter how big they get. And yet, every once in a while, Disney will throw us a curve and get behind a project which will have us both applauding them for their diversity and scratching our heads in bewilderment. The most recent offering to match that description is The Odd Life of Timothy Green.

The Odd Life of Timothy Green introduces us to Cindy (Jennifer Garner) and Jim Green (Joel Edgerton), who are a pretty odd couple themselves. They live in a small town where the primary employer is a pencil factory, where Jim works. Cindy works at a museum which commemorates the founder of a the pencil factory. They long to have a child, but they can't for biological reasons. One night, they begin to list all of the attributes which their ideal child would have. They place this list in a box and bury it in the garden. The next morning, they find a pre-adolescent boy calling himself Timothy (CJ Adams) in their house. The boy seems perfectly normal and healthy, save for the leaves which adorn his calves and shins. Cindy and Jim see this event as a blessing and begin telling their family and friends that they adopted Timothy. They enroll him in school and sign him up for soccer and watch as he tries to adjust. But, they soon learn that Timothy is a very special individual who is destined to touch the lives of everyone he meets.

As with most PG-rated Disney movies -- that's specifying movies released under the Disney banner, not sub-section of Disney like Touchstone -- The Odd Life of Timothy Green was marketed as a family film, but having now seen it, the movie doesn't fall into that category. Not to imply that there's anything inappropriate in the movie, as there's no sex, violence or profanity, but it does contain plenty of themes and ideas which I think would a) not interest kids, or b) upset them. There isn't anything in the movie which kids wouldn't understand, but I'm just not sure if they would care. (For the record, my kids had no interest in seeing the movie and when I told them that they probably wouldn't like it, they didn't argue.)

The movie is essentially and adult drama with many fantasy themes. Based on a story by Ahmet Zappa, with a screenplay by Director Peter Hedges, the movie is somewhat unique in this aspect. The Odd Life of Timothy Green plays like a modern-day version of the old fairy tales where the couple would wish for a child and get something special. (In this respect, the story is like a combination of Thumbelina and Pinocchio.) The bulk of the film is played straight and doesn't dwell on the fantasy themes -- Timothy emerges from the ground, Cindy and Jim accept and the story is off and going.

If you saw the trailer for The Odd Life of Timothy Green and felt that you had an idea of exactly what the movie would be, then you were most likely exactly right. (At least, I was, and I'm never right about these things.) Which brings us to the movie's main problem, it's predictable and it doesn't really have a cohesive plot. Once Timothy appears, Jim and Cindy take him around town -- to meet family, to school, to their jobs -- and he interacts with different people and, as noted above, has an effect on everyone he meets. He also meets a girl at school named Joni (Odeya Rush) and the two become best friends. And yet, the movie never really explains why the two bond or exactly what their woodland project was supposed to be. While all of this is happening, there is a subplot concerning the impending closing of the pencil factory. So, within the framework of a fairly intriguing idea, we get a story which is episodic and incredibly sappy (no pun intended). There would be nothing wrong with the movie being "sweet" (for lack of a better word), but The Odd Life of Timothy Green goes from being a fantasy to being simply ludicrous, as Timothy changes everyone for the better. (Come to think of it, the story reminds me of a saccharine version of Stuart Little.) Getting back to the idea of the film being predictable, the film ends exactly the way in which you think it would, as there's really only one way in which the story could end. However, it wasn't as touching as it could have been.

Now, let me give you my wife's take on the movie. Again, Jim and Cindy desperately want a child, but aren't able to produce one of their own. Having Timothy serves as a sort of "training" for them, should they ever have a child. Meanwhile, every other parent in town appears to be neglectful and their children are spoiled brats. My wife's question was, what kind of message is the movie sending in that Jim and Cindy require a "starter kid" while everyone else is able to simply have kids and do a bad job raising them? The fact that they wanted a baby and couldn't have one was bad enough, but the thought that they needed a trial run was insulting.

The Odd Life of Timothy Green really glosses over the science behind Jim and Cindy's invention on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 1.85:1 and the Disc carries an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 35 Mbps. The image is notably sharp and clear, showing no overt grain and no defects from the source material. The colors look fantastic and the picture is never overly dark or bright. The transfer has a nice crispness to it and the daytime scenes look as if we could walk right into them. The picture's depth is good and the level of detail is appreciated. The Disc carries a DTS-HD Master Audio track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 4.0 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The stereo effects are subtle, but good, and they show good separation. There are some choice moments in the Green house when we can hear movement from other parts of the house. The soccer game and town hall scenes provide good surround sound effects, as the crowd noises come from the rear speakers and we can pick out some individual sounds. The storm in the first act provides a way for the subwoofer to get involved.

The Odd Life of Timothy Green Blu-ray Disc contains several extras. We begin with an AUDIO COMMENTARY from Writer/Director Peter Hedges. "This is Family" (10 minutes) is a making-of featurette which is mostly a profile of Hedges. We hear from the director and the actors comment on working with him. There is also talk of the atmosphere on the set and the working environment which Hedges creates. "The Gift of Music" (9 minutes) focuses on the songs and score for the film. We hear from Composer Geoff Zanelli and Musician Glen Hansard and there is a discussion of how the music accents the movie. The Disc contains five DELETED SCENES which run about 6 minutes and can be viewed with commentary from Hedges. Most of these are quite brief, but a few are good, especially the one about the leaf, and would have fit in just fine. The final extra is a MUSIC VIDEO for the song "This Gift" by Glen Hansard.