Odd Thomas – The movie

I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t looking forward to this one. I was also very skeptical about it since the past few reviews haven’t been quite that great. The Odd Thomas books were good, I liked them and although they became less good as the newer ones arrived I still liked the series. When I heard there was a movie in the works a range of emotions passed through me. I went from excited to skeptical to scared to positive to unsure and then eventually I became patient about it.

Now I have a personal problem with books being made into movies because 98% of the times it’s a complete and utter mess-up. They get characters wrong, they skip or completely change key parts of the story or they just turn it into something it wasn’t meant to be (see my previous review).

So the first question here is: How much of the book was shredded?
It’s been a while since I read the first book, so forgive me if I leave anything out (don’t worry, no spoilers). As far as I could tell (and remember) there wasn’t really anything important left out. Nothing key seemed to have been changed and the characters were generally very true to the book.

Odd was quite how I imagined him to be and his relationship with Stormy Llewellyn was very accurate. The wit was there and that true, young love was clear and ever present. Willem Dafoe did his character justice, as he usually does, and I felt so many good memories of the book coming back to me while watching the flick.

My issues? Well, if there weren’t any issues then Odd Thomas the movie would’ve been the next Titanic (to those who liked it). Addison Timlin as the choice for Stormy seemed a bit off to me. She was tough enough, yet feminine enough for the role but I often found it difficult to take her serious. I’m not saying she’s a bad actress, I’m just saying that she sometimes seemed a bit detached from her role. Or the movie. My example…when she was concerned for Odd’s safety she barely frowned and I was sitting there wondering whether she was serious or not. The chemistry between her and Anton Yelchin wasn’t bad at all. I got their strong feelings for one another (even when it was mostly from Odd’s side) and at the end of the movie Anton really had me…well…let’s just leave it there, shall we? As far as Anton’s work is concerned he was a decent choice. His acting was believable, solid and he got that blend of innocence and wisdom that Odd has down to a T. I really can’t complain there.

The movie flowed well, felt a lot like the book did (at least to me) and there wasn’t a second where I didn’t enjoy it. All in all, I’m happy with the book-movie crossover.

Pros:
Decent adaptation of the book, they even put in the guy from the workshop with the off arm. Good action without compromising the story and those bodachs were just great.

Cons:
Stormy sometimes came across as a bit less warm blooded than she was meant to be.

Ambitious rating:
80%

Verdict:
I liked it. It’s that simple. It was straightforward without too much Hollywood overkill and it served the book well. I want to watch it again.
Well done.