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Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2016 film Odd Thomas.
Story
The screenwriters took all the fatphobia, misogyny, and ableism and removed it. They also took the overall slow story and made it feel fast paced. Unfortunately, all the polishing doesn’t help a mediocre attempt at a supernatural thriller.
Score: 0.5
Characters
The characters are made more human in this than in the book and that’s probably because of the actors and the cleaning up of the relations between characters.
Special shout out to Anton Yelchin who turned one of the least likeable characters into someone I’d want to read and watch. Also Addison Timlin who made Stormy into more than a cookie cutter manic pixie dreamgirl.
They still feel like outdated cardboard cutouts instead of real characters.
Score: 0.5
Dialogue
The dialogue is pompous, dated, and awkward. In the books, it was terrible, but in the movie it worked to build a sort of stylistic surrealism to the whole movie.
Score: 0.5
Visuals and Music
The digital effects look dated but everything that’s practical looks great. The cinematography and weird blue filter makes for a good match to the dialogue’s surrealism.
The music was okay. It did its job but was extremely predictable and a little dull.
Score: 0.5
Fun
I liked the movie and might even rewatch it. I watched it alone after hate-binging the novel. I don’t think the kids or the family would have enjoyed it. As a supernatural movie it was good. As an adaptation, it was better than the novel.
Score: 0.5
Overall
An amazing adaptation of a mediocre book. Anton Yelchin and Addison Timlin infuse personality and emotion into bland, borderline unlikable characters. Unfortunately, no clever writing or acting can save a tired plotline.
Final Score: 2.5 Stars out of 5