Essay On Odd Thomas

Odd Thomas wasn't as odd a film as I thought it would be going in. But is a very fun twist on the "I see dead people and have to help trope". Which is both nice and refreshing. Odd Thomas is also an adaptation of a book of the same name by horror/suspense author Dean Koontz an author I like and feel guilty about for not reading more of his work. Odd Thomas plays out more like a detective film than it does as a horror film. Not to say that it skimps on the horror, because it doesn't. Odd Thomas does a great job building on impending sense of dread by making it one of the main focuses of the film. Then tries to deliver and equally excellent bout of revulsion only for it fall a little flat.

Odd Thomas is about.. well, Odd Thomas (Anton Yelchin) a short order cook who can see dead people. But he does then go do something about it. Odd's secret is known to only a few, his girlfriend Stormy Llewellyn (Addison Timlin) and Police Chief

Strange guy that can see ghosts must stop a mass murder before it happens. But the twists, while nothing new are incredibly well used. This might be due to Odd Thomas being an adaptation. So as films normally leave out a lot of content. So if they were able to cram all of this into the film. What didn't?

The acting does feel a bit off to me. I can't quite get my finger on it. But something about the delivery of the lines feels awkward and while well written it doesn't really flow well. But it's funny, well most of the time. Though this is mostly the writing and not the performance. Even Willem Defoe suffers from this here and I've loved just about everything I've seen him in.

Final thoughts, its good and I really liked it. The dark, dry humor really worked for me and while the acting bugs me a little. It never approaches terrible. It just feels off to me. The story does feel a bit formulaic, but not in a bad way. It feels fresh when I know it shouldn't. All that said, it's good and would recommend it.