Odd Thomas (2014)

If you had a gift that might make you seem “odd” to other people, but it could help save lives, would you use that gift, or hide it? In February 2014, a young man named Odd didn’t advertise his gift, but he didn’t exactly hide it either.

Directing this 100 minute comedy/horror/mystery/thriller is Stephen Sommers.

Making their way through this odd film is: Anton Yelchin as Odd Thomas, Addison Timlin as Stormy Llewellyn, Willem Dafoe as Chief Wyatt Porter, Nico Tortorella as Officer Simon Varner, Kyle McKeever as Officer Bern Eckles, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Viola Peabody and Shuler Hensley as Fungus Bob Robertson.

A short order cook named Odd Thomas tries to live a simple life. Odd hangs out with his girlfriend Stormy, goes to work, helps people out when he can, and the dead when they need it. Yes, Odd helps the dead. Because of his clairvoyant gift he is able to help the dead find peace after death, and sometimes help save the living. Unfortunately, Odd’s simple life gets pretty complicated when his gift warns him of some impending doom. It seems trouble is coming to his friendly town. Something very dark threatens to bring not only a lot of pain, but also death. That is, unless Odd can figure out what the danger is and stop it in time.

Any Dean R. Koontz fans out there? If so, then you’re going to want to see this movie. It’s based off of the book with the same name that was written by Koontz. Now, I’ve never read the book, but I was able to talk to someone who had. Their take on the movie vs. book thing was that Sommers, who wrote the screenplay, did a pretty good job bringing the book to life. As always, some things were left out apparently, but for the most part they did a solid job. As for the movie, I thought it was really good. The storyline has a great mix of comedy and mystery, with a touch of horror since it deals with the supernatural. A witty and well written script keeps everything moving along smoothly. The cast did an awesome job, especially Yelchin and Timlin who had such a great chemistry, and of course Dafoe is cool in any movie. Another thing I liked was the special effects. Not only did everything look and flow good, but I really liked the take on the Bodachs (evil creatures of the film). Watching the way the Bodahs moved and acted not only showed imagination but great work by all of the special effects teams involved. Yes it falls into the horror genre, but really it’s not all that scary. You see ghosts and… demon-kind-of-things… you could say, but I found more humor and mystery in the overall of the movie. Now, I’m not knocking the movie for it’s lack of horror. It’s more of a warning for anyone that just grabs a title based on genre (like I do), then is a little disappointed (yes I was) because it wasn’t the kind of “horror” you were expecting. Overall, this one is well worth the time and has fallen into my favorites list. Side note, come to find out Odd Thomas has more than a few books in the series, and after this film I really wouldn’t mind seeing some sequels… as long as Sommers is in the drivers seat.