Sponge-Odd Thomas

(Odd Thomas Review By Neamo)

Last night whilst attempting to soothe the raw nerve exposed in my Need For Speed Review, I received a film recommendation from a person whom I hold in some esteem. I had before that point never heard of the name Odd Thomas, I had seen nothing in cinematic trailers which now act as more of a budgetary sounding board than anything else, never heard of the title mentioned on the websites I frequent or indeed heard anyone mention anything of the strange and whimsical title in any context. This warranted further investigation! Donning both deerstalker and pipe I quickly found that pressing legal suites and unfavorable reviews had buried this movie before it had left the metaphorical nest, and as such it has been left unseen and generally unmentioned to all who do not follow Dean Koontz. It was intriguing but I must admit that when it comes to films, the hype behind them often reveals much of the inherent value within, and while that isn't always the case, the fact of the matter is until that moment I had heard nothing, either positive of negative of this unusually titled piece. Choosing to ignore my instincts to flee to the grounds of comfort, and still melancholic from my newly unbound suppressed memories of a film that makes my inner child wretch, I decided to abandon reason and delve into a film I was sure would be a straight to DVD monstrosity. I'm glad I did watch it, however, while reviewing this film I can find myself making a conscious effort to substitute the description odd for others, and considering it's a title that by and large fits it's name exceptionally well, you can consider this review an enormous pain in the ass. Not to the flaying depths of Need For Speed of course, but it's irritating none the less.

Odd Thomas revolves around it's titular character, Odd Thomas. While there is a brief and banal description within the film to try and explain how a boy can be rightly given the name Odd, it still seems a near act of infanticide on the remaining parents part to allow a child with that name to go to a public school. We learn within the space of less than a minute that Odd had been raised with his highly psychotic and abusive mother, his father leaving the fray for better things, and that Odd's mother has the same gift as he. When I say we learn this of course, I mean only in the sense that we are given one or two rather peppy but otherwise concise sentences on the issue, a psychiatric flip book of images, and it is never raised again. Odd is respected the town over, as being a twenty year old fry cook, Sponge-Odd knows everyone within the hick and small town of California. I'm sorry, that was facetious of me, within the small town of Pico Mundo, a town otherwise cut off from the main cities of California. With a girlfriend called Stormy whose name is given no dose of explanation, only that she's a rebel ice cream vendor with blue streaked hair, we see them frolic and playfully flirt as soul devouring aliens from the void pour into this world through the nexus of all evil, that Sponge-Odd can see lurking around every corner. I would call them ghosts or demonic spirits, but the fact of the matter is there is something rather strange and alien about the whole affair, not only in looks but in their actions, so I shall call it as I see it. With apocalyptic events brewing and no suspicion attached to his name throughout the entirety of the movie, Sponge-Odd battles with a harbinger known as the fungus man for his oddly colored hair, and is aided by his devout believers, his girlfriend and the chief of police, Wyatt. Slowly piecing the puzzle together that leads to the death of his loved one and the salvation of a mall, it's a journey of friends, fry cooks and forensic ineptitude that will leave you questioning why you enjoyed it so much.

I have to admit I do tend to overly despoil and otherwise mar a plot that I find laughable. If there are numerous holes, it is an exercise in restraint not to pull at them and otherwise stretch them to tearing point immediately, and I often do as is made evident by this summation, don't have the will power to hold myself back. We see almost nothing of Odd's troubles before these events, and aside from a few placid cut scenes, one involving a fortune telling machine and the other involving his mothers psychiatric incarceration we learn little of our protagonist. Strange, well mannered, witty and ultimately kind, he lacks any form of an edge to his character, portrayed as a flawless fry cook who aside from being considered weird by his peers acts as a shining beacon of what a person should be. While that would appeal to many, for me and my personal love of the Byronic hero, his every man protagonist attempt at trying to appease all tastes fills me with utter disdain. His gift and the plot suggestions within hint that he is a man who has not only seen death, he has grown so used to it that it holds none of the macabre sway, and he is constantly plagued by these horrors. While one could argue that time would cause you to grow numb to them, he seems naive if only for the sake of the plot. It begs the question, how has he survived this long?

The acting is okay. It's not awful, and in that same vein it deserves no awards or accolades either. It would seem in poor taste of me to say it was of a television mini drama quality considering that I've seen some exceptional mini drama's recently, but it certainly strode leagues above the crippled husk of the film I had reviewed prior. Dafoe's performance ultimately remained my focus of interest, and Dafoe remained Dafoe. I was certainly appeased to a greater extent. The acting is not however the saving grace of this film. While I have mentioned it was a pleasant experience for me, until this point you've seen no praise, and the praise shall come in the place of the scripted dialogue and direction. I am not going to mention music or set pieces, I simply can't remember them, nor do I remember much else from the film. What I do remember is the feeling of enjoyment. It felt smooth, with a production value that seemed to exceed the meager budget I rightly assumed it had been given. Fluid camera movements, eased transitions and an overall great direction held the piece in a higher esteem, giving it a true vehicle for it's script. Funny, well written, witty and occasionally biting, the lines for the most part save a few horrifying attempts at romanticism gave an authenticity I hadn't expected.

While I could lazily pluck at my gripes and niggles in this film, the general lack of forensic knowledge, the special effects seemingly ripped from an alien versus predator installment, or even something plot destroying like the fact he can kiss his intangible spirit lover, I won't. I'll not go to the effort of plucking away every shred, as it gave me some genuine laughter and a little feeling toward the end. Instead, I will talk of what I would have changed. I would have liked to have seen a film far removed from the one I had done, the plot stripped away in order to make room for a plot anew. A darker feel than the bright and pastille color palate used, a little more psychological interplay and more focus on his crazy mother might have given the film a dualistic edge, is he crazy, did he kill Fungus? It would certainly have appealed to me at a more personal level.

Another day, another review. This like the former took time as, having recently watched it, thoughts and opinions still were forming and settling into place. The film is a good and lighthearted romp, with a shaky plot but witty protagonist. If you are looking for something deep and soulful, this won't be for you, but if you feel the need to kick back and relax, there are certainly worse films you could be watching. Oh, and as I've enjoyed writing it during the review... Sponge-Odd.