Review of Odd Thomas (2013) by Thomas W — 23 Feb 2014

It is The Sixth Sense crossed with Peter Jackson's least known film, The Frighteners. Based upon a Dean Koontz series of books, Stephen Sommers (The Mummy, Van Helsing) brings small-town fry cook Odd Thomas (Anton Yelchin - Star Trek, Like Crazy) to life on the big screen.

Odd may appear to have a rather ho-hum life to most; but he is harboring a secret: he can see dead people as well as other harbingers of death and doom called bodachs. When a stranger shows up in his small town, Odd takes particular notice of him as the man is swarming with the ghostly bodachs that nobody else can see.

Trusted by the local sheriff (Willem Dafoe - Spider-Man, John Carter) as Odd will oftentimes help him solve unsolved crimes, the sheriff and his men are told to keep an eye on this new arrival while Odd takes it upon himself to keep his girlfriend (Addison Timlin - Stand Up Guys) and co-workers (Gugu Mbatha-Raw - Belle) safe and out of harm's way as he senses an upcoming epic battle of good vs.

evil that is going to occur in his hometown. Not the best film out there but not the worst either, Odd Thomas has a quirky sense of humor it heavily relies upon as its low budget has not afforded it the best of special effects some scenes would have greatly benefited from.

The film gets off to a rather bumpy start but I ended up marginally liking this one as Yelchin makes his Odd one you can root for throughout. I have been told (by good authority) that the series is a good read so perhaps I will have to check them out to pick-up on the pieces the film has left out.