Writer: Casey Lee

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Watch this if you liked: "R.I.P.D".

Adapted from Dean Kootz's novel of the same name, "Odd Thomas" centers on its titular character, who is really called Odd and has the ability to see the dead and the ghostly creatures that he calls the Bodaks when death is near. When a stranger walks into the diner where Odd works and draws along a horde of Bodaks in his little desert hometown, Odd's investigative instincts tells him that the man is up to something unpleasant, and he plans to stop it.

It's hard to tell whether director Stephen Sommers had done a faithful adaptation for anyone who is not familiar or read the books. This means while "Odd Thomas" has the fortune of not having any gouging oddities against it, it also has little outstanding qualities to make it feel more than an extended episode from a TV series, and the low production value certainly adds to that argument.

The plot is not threatening because all the mystery and little twists are predictable at worst and cliche at best, except for an ending twist that may get you by surprise, which is where "Odd Thomas" loses much of its suspense and appeal.

This is not helped that the script makes a habit of stating the obvious, which is meant to guide along anyone who has never seen or read a mystery novel in their entire life. If there is one redeeming factor of it is that Sommers doesn't let the action sequences drag "Odd Thomas" down to oblivion, but they are still constraint by the low budget; with a bulk of it obviously spent on the decent special effects, but even that can't be compared with an over-budgeted debacle like "R.I.P.D".

If there is any enjoyment to be had, it is seeing Anton Yelchin's turn here as Odd, that gives him more attention than one of the crew in JJ Abrams' "Star Trek" universe. The real show stealer here is the lesser known but gorgeous Addison Timlin as the quick-witted girlfriend and Willem Dafoe as Odd's police chief father who lends some star power in the cast.

Despite being set up to be the start of a series, it is hard to support a sequel for "Odd Thomas" unless it turns out to be a miraculous micro-budget hit because it has the fan-base horde of "Twilight". And unless you are a pubescent fan of the book (or a fan of Anton Yelchin), don't have your hopes too high when you want to watch the film.


Cinema Online, 28 October 2013