Odd Thomas (*2013)
(Note, this movie, while currently available on various sites online, has not been released, and, if current information is correct, may not be released for some time if ever)
You ever go into a movie ready to hate it? Like, really hate it? Have you ever sat down to watch something you were one hundred percent certain was going to be terrible, and you looked forward to, if nothing else, tearing it apart scene by scene?
That was me tonight.
See, I knew this movie was in the works, but had kept it off my radar for various reason, most importantly was my fear that there was no way in Hell it would work. When I happened to catch a trailer online a few weeks ago, my fears, while not soothed, were settled a tiny bit. Of course, then I foolishly browsed a message board and got some information that shot my fears back up.
So when my father discovered it was online earlier this morning, I was, suffice to say, not looking forward to it. But I sauntered on, ready to tear the movie a new one and write my first negative review in some time.
Then I watched it.
I have said for many years that the secret to happiness is low expectations and your own bag of chips. As this was my little sister's birthday I already ate a lot I did not have need for a bag of chips, but my expectations were sufficiently lowered to the point you would need some high powered mining equipment to find them.
Which might explain why, as the credit rolled, I was not, as expected, rolling around the floor in a ball cursing like there was no tomorrow. Why instead, I find myself not ready to tear the movie apart, but actually speak highly of it... I come not to bury this movie, but to, at least lightly, praise it.
This my friends, is Odd Thomas.
Background
A little background is certainly required is this case so you can understand why, going in, I was set to destroy this movie.
See about five years ago, during one of my many online excursions, I somehow wound up on the Wikipedia entry for a Dean Koontz book series entitled Odd Thomas. Skimming the plots of the then four books, they sounded interesting but I quickly moved on to the next point of interest. However, the next day after leaving work, I walked into the second hand store nearby and, as I browsed the book section, found myself face to face with the first three books of the series, sitting face up, in order, on a shelf, almost as if they were waiting for me.
Taking this a sign, I picked them up, and proceeded to toss them in a drawer and forget about them for a year.
Fast forward a year, and I, while looking for reading material, remember the books and decided to give the first one a try just for the hell of it.
Within 48 hours, I had finished it. By the of the week I had devoured the other two and sought out the forth from my local library. Two days later that was finished and, I, with the help of a friend who worked at a bookstore, had bought a copy. As of today I am just starting the sixth book in the series, and I intend to savor it as there is no word as to when the seventh and final book will be released.
So you can say I'm a bit of a fan. Hell, I even got my dad into the series, and while he is two books behind, that won't be for long.
I guess you can understand then why, after seeing the trailer, the cast, and even hearing some of the information on the message boards, I was worried. When one discovers a film is being made based on a book one loves, one is likely to be on edge. But was it justified?
Plot
Odd Thomas leads an interesting life. A short order cook in the small California desert town of Pico Mundo, Odd, played by Anton Yelchin, is, by his own admission, no one special, save for one simple fact- he sees the dead. The lingering spirits of the departed tend to seek him out, either for justice, comfort, or simply for a little help to cross over. They never speak, and it is established this is not by choice- they simply have no voices. Only a few people know of Odd's secret- his soulmate, Stormy Llewellyn, played by Addison Timlin, the local Sheriff Wyatt Porter, played by Willem Dafoe, Porter's wife Karla, played by Laurel Harris, and two other characters who are either missing or almost non existent in the film-more on that later. Besides the usual ghosts, Odd also has the ability to see creatures he calls Bodach's, demonic looking shadow creatures that feed on mass violence- when they are around, it is a sign that something terrible on a large scale is coming. So when the largest pack he has ever seen follow a patron from the diner Odd works at, our hero knows something is up. After following the man he dubs Fungus Bob, played by Shuler Hensley, Odd not only discovers a mysterious gateway to wherever the Bodach's come from, but also a shrine to mass murders and serial killers, along with evidence that Fungus Bob is planning something big for August 15th- the following day. From then it is a race against time for Odd and his friends to figure out what catastrophe is about to fall upon Pico Mundo, but also how to stop it.
Thoughts
First the bad.
In the books, there are five characters who know Odd's secret- the previously mentioned Stormy, Sheriff Porter, his wife, and two others- diner owner Terry, who acts as a surrogate mother to Odd, and Little Ozzie, a massively overweight, six-fingered writer of mystery novels, and the one who tells Odd to write his story- which is what the novels themselves are, Odd's story in his words. Terry however, is not in the film, nor is her car which Odd uses throughout the novel, and Ozzie, while he is in it and played by Patton Oswalt, is not a writer but an artists of some kind, he is small (this is Patton post weight loss), never mentions anything about Odd's gift, and appears in the film for all of five minutes if that. This is a massive disservice to two important characters not only in the novel, but in the narrative of Odd's life- while the film glosses over his abnormal home life, the books touch on it quite a bit, and show how Porter, his wife and Terry are essentially the family Odd never truly had, and Ozzie, likewise, acts as a mentor to Odd who helps keep him grounded and sane. I'm not saying the movie suffers without these characters, but as a fan, it annoys me a little.
Likewise was the exclusion of one other character. For a film about someone who sees ghosts, there were only four in the whole movie. Not that the novel is full of them, but there are a few more in it, most importantly, Odd's constant companion, the ghost of Elvis Presley. Elvis appears to Odd a number of times in the series, and is the only ghost who can alter his attire and appearance- he aids and comforts Odd while also providing some important foreshadowing the film lacks. Now many people online feel that the filmmakers likely were unable to get the rights for Presley's estate to have his likeness appear in the film, but honestly if that's the case, they should not have made the movie. Again, the lack of Elvis does not take away from the film for newcomers, but for a fan, it sucks as Elvis is an important and entertaining part of the Odd Thomas story.
Also, the film messes with Odd's gifts a little, seemingly allowing him to see visions while touching people- very much like Johnny from The Dead Zone. This is pointless in my opinion, but only happens twice in the film and does not really do much damage. It is a nitpick if nothing else, and at least his primary ability is not messed with.
That said, I did not hate this movie.
Besides the aforementioned issues, the film was surprisingly faithful to the source material. Dialogue is almost word for word from the novel, the characters play their roles well, and the ending was not changed to fit a more Hollywood style (fans will know what I'm talking about). While at times things seem rushed they still keep a pretty good pace and the basic storyline is still the same, with moments of exposition which, again, are verbatim the narration from the book. As I recently re-read the book, I was happy to see certain scenes shot exactly as they are described in the book- save one, which, I admit, would have been difficult to truly capture on film without a massive effect budget.
The casting surprised me- while I have not seen the recent Star Trek films in which Anton Yelchin takes the role of Chekov, the moment I heard he had the role of Odd I was pleased- Odd, while never described in any great detail, is essentially a normal, average, everyday guy who happens to see ghosts- Yelchin fits this well, as he looks like a typical twenty-something guy with not real distinct characteristics or looks. He did seem a bit too upbeat in the role, given the fact that in the novels Odd tends to have a sombre tone, but as the book is supposed to be written long after the events taking place, I can understand how the film would take a different approach of showing how Odd was before that occurs. Addison Timlin I was not impressed with at first, as her IMDB picture showed a perky, pale dirty-blonde woman- in the novel Stormy is described as having an exotic look with dark hair, so you can understand how this picture did not fill me with hope. However on seeing the trailer, and the now lightly tanned and dark haired Timlin, I started to feel more at ease, even more so after watching the film and her interactions with Yelchin's Odd- they really do feel like a young couple in love, a little bit serious, a little bit flirty, but very protective of each other. You see they both believe, as Odd and Stormy do, in the fortune teller card they were given at the carnival that told them "You are destined to be together forever". Willem DaFoe was another one I was uneasy about- don't get me wrong, I consider the man a great actor, he has been in some of my favorite films, but Sheriff Porter is described in the books as your usual small town Sheriff- middle aged, bit overweight, the kind of guy you expect to be sitting behind a desk in some nowhere town. I do not see that in Willem Dafoe, he is big city cop, not small town Sheriff. Yet he pulls it off, bringing just enough of that bad ass lawman you would expect from him, with a decent amount of small town man just trying to get through the day. The rest of the cast are pretty much no names and they do their jobs well- Hensley's Fungus Bob has no lines in the film but is suitably intimidating and creepy, as his character should be, and I was pleasantly surprised to see Nico Tortorella, whom I know as Jacob from the awesome television series The Following, as one of the film's antagonists, though he doesn't get much to work with compared to his character in the novel.
The film's effects are also decent, especially those used for The Bodach's- while they don't look how I envisioned them based on the book, they were otherworldly and scary, and that is what they are supposed to be. When they show up you are freaked out because you know those are not of this world. While I would have liked a little bit more ghostly effects for the film's supernatural cast, they looked fine and any complain would be nitpicking.
And nitpicks are really all I have left- besides the earlier issues I brought up, it's the little things that bring this movie down- at times there is too much exposition and narration, or what is provided is rushed and unclear to those unfamiliar with the source material. Certain scenes, while in the book, are changed in ways that seem pointless or mundane, making me wonder why they bothered changing them at all. The movie is also short, right on the line at an hour and a half, they could have stretch it to two hours and included a few more plot elements and characters from the novel, but then again, this film was done predominantly independently, so I guess I can't ask for too much. If nothing else, the film's ending perfectly captured that of the novel, and as a fan, I can take a large amount of joy in that.
Conclusion
Odd Thomas is not a perfect film, not only for fans but for newcomers. It has it's issues and it's holes, but most people can follow along easily and even fans, ones they get past the changes and omissions, will likely enjoy the film to some degree. The book is certainly better, as it is in most cases like this, but at the moment this is probably the closest to a faithful film adaptation of the novel as we are going to get, so might as well enjoy it. That is of course if it ever gets a release, be it theatrical or straight to DVD. From what I have read, the producers are currently suing a number of parties who had promised funds for distribution and marketing, so for all we know the film may never see the light of day outside of the internet. That said, if you are a fan you can likely find a copy floating round the big ol internet, and if you are a newcomer to the world of Odd and are interested, you can do the same. The film is not a great one, but it's a good one, and sometimes that's the best we can hope for. Low expectations folks, they can be a blessing.
3 Pissed Off Poltergeists Out Of 5
Until next time, I'm The Drew, and while I do not see the dead, I am still awesome.
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