I feel like I need to start this review with this: Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas is easily one of my favorite books. So when I was asked if I would like to review the film, I had mixed emotions. Everyone knows about movies based on books. But lately, some of those films have been excellent, maybe even better than the book (Hunger Games, Catching Fire, I’m looking at you!).
Odd Thomas is about a small town fry cook named Odd (his mom swears it was a typo on his birth certificate that was supposed to read Todd) who sees dead people. Yeah, sounds familiar, right? Thomas sees ghosts who have unfinished business, and he helps them. The film opens, and doesn’t even pause to let viewers get to know his character. Right off the bat Odd sees a girl and helps her bust the man who killed her. Odd tracks him down and makes short work of the villain.
When I heard the casting for the film, Anton Yelchin (Star Trek, Fright Night) as the titular character was absolutely perfect in my mind. When I read the book, I always imagined someone like Yelchin in the role. And he did NOT disappoint.
Odd’s relationship with town Police Chief Wyatt Porter, played by Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man, Boondock Saints), gives him the ability to continue helping the dead. Porter helps Odd come up with reasons for being on the scene so that they can keep his power a secret. Dafoe, as usual, was excellent in the role, and really seemed to have the relationship they had in the book.
Then there is Odd’s girlfriend Stormy, played by relative newcomer Addison Timlin (That Awkward Moment). The two were told by a carnival gypsy machine that they were destined to be together forever, and they seem to have a romance to support that idea. Stormy is also aware of his powers, and while she worries about him, she understands him enough to let him do his thing. And let’s not ignore how sexy Timlin is in the film!
The plot was excellent and stuck fairly closely to the book. A creepy man appears, surrounded by creatures only Odd can see, which he calls bodachs. These creatures feed off of horrible events, and while Thomas has seen one or two at a time, this man has hundreds following him, which pushes Odd to start investigating. Odd goes on a quest to try to save his quiet town of Pico Mundo from whatever destructive event is coming for the townspeople.
Overall, this film was a fun watch, and a great tribute to the book. The special effects were excellent, especially the bodachs. The film is absolutely worth watching, whether you were a fan of the books, or just someone into ghosts/odd films. 5 out of 5 stars.
Odd Thomas hits theatres today!