Odd Thomas - Movie Review
Odd Thomas is just that. It’s an oddity in the adapted film category. In normal circumstances, a film like this would be burdened with the the book is better tagline. However, this is one of the rare examples of a movie being better the book. It joins an exclusive club that includes The Omen and Rosemary’s Baby. Does that mean it’s a great movie?
Let’s discuss.
Odd Thomas is based on the book series of the same name written by Bowl-Cut superstar Dean Koontz. It’s about a fry cook with psychic powers, played by the great Anton Yelchin (gone too soon) who is driven to save his town by a strong sense of justice. Ghosts come to him and lead them to their killers. Think the sixth sense if Haley Joel Osment’s character knew karate. On top of seeing ghosts Odd also sees creatures called Bodachs that are harbingers of death and destruction. He can’t let them know that he can see them, or else they will kill him utilizing powers similar to that of the Death-Force in the Final Destination movies. It’s a neat idea, creatures that can’t hurt you themselves, but can alter probability and human behavior to cause your doom. It reminds me of the way Frank Peretti described demons in his best seller, This Present Darkness. Moving on—One day Odd and his Girlfriend spot a strange looking man who they dub Fungus Bob, due to his oddly cut and dyed hair. Fungus Bob is surrounded by hundreds of Bodachs. Which is more than Odd has seen in his entire life combined. Along with his soulmate Stormy, played by the adorable Addison Timlin and the town Sheriff, played by Willem Dafoe, Odd embarks on a journey to investigate this dark omen and what it means for his town.
Haircut and psychic dog stuff aside(Google it), Dean Koontz is one of my favorite writers. I started reading his books when I was around 10 or 11 when I started getting bored of the stereotypical Stephen King stuff that was coming out around that time. I never saw any ads for Koontz books, but I always heard about him from other people. My mother told me about a book that had given her nightmares after she read it in a single sitting. She proceeded to mail me a copy Koontz’s Intensity. To this day, I don’t think a book has floored me as much as that. Nowadays, Koontz is a joke of a softcore-horror writer, but people forget that he started as a straight up edge lord. His fiction was closer to Jack Ketchum than R.L. Stine. His books were ultraviolent tales of revenge, rape, murder, and black magic. He softened over the years The Odd Thomas series was HUGE back when I was working at Borders Books. Yeah, I’m that old. Also, so is this series. It was a multi-decade affair that sold millions of copies. I tried to read the books, but I hated them. Due to this, I didn’t have high hopes for the movie. Man, was I wrong.
The acting is incredible. The cast that was assembled for this direct to streaming film is out of this world. Anton Yelchin was one of the most charismatic and relatable male leads you could get in a film at this time. He was great in the Fright Night remake as well as Green Room and Thoroughbreds. Due to his untimely passing in 2016, we didn’t get to see him in his true prime. Maybe its because of that fact that this film feels so personal. You can really tell that he invested himself in this picture. When he feels pain, the audience feels it. Its an incredible performance that would carry a lesser film. In this case it just pushes the rest of the cast to pick up the slack. Addison Timlin plays off Yelchin’s intensity and the chemistry they show is palpable. She matches him beat for beat. Then there’s Willem. What can I say? No matter what you put Willem Dafoe in, he steals the show. Oh, you need an angry, gay detective? Call Willem. You need a Green Goblin? Call Willem. For a guy with such a sinister face, he’s so versatile. He gets to play something in this movie that he rarely plays… A normal family man. He has a wife, kids, and is a fixture of the community. He keeps everyone safe, with Odd’s help. He’s also the surrogate father for both Odd and Stormy. The relationship feels so real. You can really tell that everyone liked each other on set, because it wouldn’t be this believable if not. That’s not even going into the loaded ancillary cast that includes genre veterans like Arnold Vosloo, Shuler Hensley, Patton Oswald, Nico Tortorella, and the stunning Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
That signature Dean Koontz violence is present in this film. I wouldn’t recommend this for watching with the kids, if your kids don’t normally watch horror movies. The violence is extremely graphic and there’s a fair bit of gore. You see psychic visions of a mass shooting, a violent gun murder, and the brutal death at the hands of dogs of a beautiful girl. It’s not for the faint of heart. If you can handle this things, you’ve got a movie with fantastic practical effects and solid CGI, a witty script, and a cast that gives it their all.
It’s part murder mystery, part action thriller, and it’s all good.
Check it out.
It’s streaming on Amazon Prime currently.
