Jennifer Garner cherishes 'The Odd Life of Timothy Green'

LOS ANGELES – America's most relatable celebrity mom, Jennifer Garner, has just made an unremarkable solo entrance at her favorite watering hole, Tavern, where the actress recently shared an anniversary dinner with her husband, Ben Affleck. By Dan MacMedan, USA TODAY
Jennifer Garner could relate to her maternal character in the movie 'The Odd Life of Timothy Green,' out Wednesday.
By Dan MacMedan, USA TODAY
Jennifer Garner could relate to her maternal character in the movie 'The Odd Life of Timothy Green,' out Wednesday.
She waves from the hostess stand, slides into her seat and orders a skim latte. Her brown eyes aren't glazed, but they should be: Baby Samuel, 5 months, issued a 3 a.m. wake-up call last night. "I'm seven hours into my day, but it's looking up," she says in her characteristically upbeat tone.Minutes later, Cougar Town co-creator Bill Lawrence strolls in with her keys, joking that parking cars is his new VIP service. Before her no-fuss arrival, Garner had been attempting to park on the street, with the latest swarm of paparazzi informing her that it was street-cleaning day. Lawrence gallantly offered to re-park her car, relieving Garner, momentarily, of the flashing cameras."One of my first early jobs, I did a tiny role on (Lawrence's) Spin City," Garner says. "I worked with Stephen Colbert, and I ended up babysitting for him — he had an even smaller role." This is a slice of the odd life of Garner, who, by all accounts, is the most "normal" movie star you'll ever share a fruit plate with.In The Odd Life ofTimothy Green, out Wednesday, she plays Cindy Green, one half of a childless couple who has run out of ways to conceive. At wit's end, she and her husband, Jim (Joel Edgerton), split a bottle of wine and dream up attributes ("Picasso with a pencil") of the perfect child they'll never have. Overnight, the Greens are magically gifted with 10-year-old Timothy (CJ Adams), who embodies all of their handwritten notes.The magic sprinkled over breakfast today is a result of Garner's resplendent candor. Makeup-free, Garner, 40, credits her cute black dress to a stop at her longtime stylist's, Rachel Zoe. She smiles wryly at the mention of her much-touted relatability quotient."It's because I always look like I'm wearing the first thing I could find, which is the truth," she says. "I don't understand how you can make breakfast, feed a baby, get hair braided, get a lunch put together and get an outfit on. And I don't have that gift anyway, to just put something on and have it look good. I just wasn't born that way."Garner's toughest critics are of the pint-size variety. "My kids have a lot to say about the appearance of how I look naked," Garner says with a laugh, describing the three to four workouts she has been squeezing in with a trainer a week to lose her last 5 pregnancy pounds. In past pregnancies, "I've always kind of eaten what I wanted and gained 40 pounds," she says. "And it's a bummer to gain that much weight and then (have to lose it). But this time, I didn't want to gain that much weight, so I was really super-careful. And I gained 60." She shrugs and smiles, the universal what can you do?"Jen's just such a regular girl," says Edgerton, extolling her "kindness" and "uncomplicatedness.""Everything you feel about her on-screen in this movie or in Juno… that's just her nature."Says director Peter Hedges (Dan in Real Life): "I've never met an actor who cares more about each member of the crew, who's more thoughtful in the gifts she gives." He wanted to instill the journey of being a parent in the film, which warns to be careful what you wish for. In Timothy Green, Hedges says, Garner is "Lucille Ball-funny, but then she comes around and breaks your heart."As a new parent to Timothy, who arrives under a cloak of E.T.-like magic, curiously caked in garden dirt with green leaves sprouting from his ankles, Garner's character becomes a helicopter mom, smothering and worrying constantly. "She's willing to go to those places that are certainly unflattering and extreme," Hedges says.Garner recognized the universality in Cindy Green and fought to play her. "I also floundered so much in the beginning," she says, recalling watching her and Affleck's lives change with the birth of their first daughter, Violet, now 6, and "falling in love again" with Seraphina, now 3."Now," she says, sharing a photo of her chubby-cheeked, blue-eyed baby boy, "I just have crazy, crazy baby love." Adding a boy to the family, so far, hasn't changed much, Garner says. "My husband says that I'm different with him, but I think I've always been crazy about babies. But he thinks that. What does he know?" she jokes.Suddenly, Affleck calls and Garner apologizes as she answers; he's flying from shooting Runner, Runner in Puerto Rico. "Hi, sweetie," she says, learning he'll be home for dinner. "The girls are going to lose their minds," she says to him.Cooking with Ben and JenAt the Affleck-Garner house, "something is in the oven or about to come out of the oven," Hedges says. "You just kind of don't want to leave.""When I first met her, I went to her house in L.A., and she was experimenting with making roast chicken," says Jim Field Smith, who directs her in Butter, an indie film due this fall. "And she had made, like, five different types of chicken using different recipes and insisted that I try a little piece of all of them."("As it happened, they were all perfect," he quips.)Garner and Affleck, 39, have a his-and-hers October in store; Butter, Garner's off-center comedy about an acid-tongued butter carver's wife, will be released a week before Affleck's newest directorial effort, Argo. The couple regularly screens the other's work. "I've seen (Argo) 15 times," Garner says. "Every cut."Married seven years, both have "gotten better at it," she says. "It's really fun. I probably am up in his grill less about stuff. I don't think I'm a particularly controlling person, but I probably work less to make things fit a mold in my head. And he exceeds my expectations anyway."What lies outside their Brentwood gates, however, is a study in the darker side of fame.Garner's everyday activities are, like many Hollywood moms', excessively photographed. In her case, it's "every day," from 7 a.m. until bedtime, she says cautiously. Celebrities complaining about paparazzi is a tricky business, and not something she likes to "give energy to." In her world, nannies at the park act as tipsters. Garner shares a photo showing 14 photographers pressed sardine-like against a pottery shop's glass storefront, a row of lenses aimed straight at her.Outwardly, she keeps calm, smiling, she says, for her children. "So inside, I rage, and outside, I go through it. I mean, life is good. I cannot complain. I would give anything for my kids not to be exposed, not to have to deal with this." At this, her eyes water, but she steadies herself. "It's just constantly a choice. Is it better for them to get (photographed) in the parking lot of this place but for me to be with them? It's just something that I try my best to navigate."Leaving L.A. could help, "but it's complicated," Garner says. "Then we would be separated so much more."Says Edgerton: "When she says that family and being a mum is more important than being a movie star, she really means it. I know that the paparazzi are a big concern to her. … She's very concerned about protecting her kids. She handles it exceptionally well considering that they go as far as trying to provoke her."A choosy working momIf only she could call upon Butter's devilishly mannered Laura Pickler, whose spiteful verbiage is delivered with relish by Garner. "Butter is kind of the other side of my personality," says Garner, who produced the R-rated comedy that features Hugh Jackman as her lover, Olivia Wilde as a stripper and Ty Burrell as her philandering husband. "Like, The Odd Life of Timothy Green is me, it's the nice side of me, and Butter is the naughty side of me." She raises an eyebrow and grins. "But it's not me, obviously, because she's a horrible person, but I love that she's horrible. It's so much fun."It has been tough for Garner to decide on a next role. "I definitely get pickier with every baby," she says. "But I do still want to work." And Affleck is "really pro-me working. I think he thinks I'd go crazy if I didn't, which is probably true."Coffee drunk, toast eaten, Garner stops on her way out to chat with fellow mom Reese Witherspoon, who's dining nearby. Outside, cameras wait.But for Garner, Timothy Green was worth the trip. "I feel an evangelical need to let people know that they have to see this film. This movie is for people who don't leave the house very often, but this is so worth their while. I get it. I don't leave the house very often, but I would for this."For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.
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Studio: Kristen Stewart not dropped from 'Snow White' sequel

Alex Bailey, AP
The affair between 'Snow White and the Huntsman' star Kristen Stewart, center, with co-star Chris Hemsworth, left, and the film's director, Rupert Sanders, right, won't stop the production of a sequel, Universal Pictures says.

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Occupy movement is alive and well on big screen

Batman villain Bane (Tom Hardy) brings the fight directly to Wall Street in 'The Dark Knight Rises.'Ron Phillips, Warner Bros. PicturesAs the one-year anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement approaches Sept. 17, the former sites of nationwide protests are mostly silent. Entertainment One via AP
Robert Pattinson plays a financier who must navigate his limousine through mobs of protesters in 'Cosmopolis,' opening Friday.
Entertainment One via AP
Robert Pattinson plays a financier who must navigate his limousine through mobs of protesters in 'Cosmopolis,' opening Friday.
But in movie theaters, the voices of the 99-percenters are just starting to get loud.Last month, the ultimate occupier, Bane, led his forces against the Gotham City elite in The Dark Knight Rises— taking over the stock exchange. On Friday, Cosmopolis hits theaters, with Robert Pattinson as a financier whose limousine navigates through mobs of angry protesters.And on Sept. 14, Arbitrage opens, with Richard Gere playing a crooked billionaire trying to complete the sale of his trading empire with cooked books.The messages may be a little tardy, but filmmakers say the sentiments still resonate. "There's usually a bit of a time lag," says Cosmopolis director David Cronenberg. "But the desire to be topical and press a few buttons is always there. Filmmakers are always looking for a source of energy."Christian Bale, who plays wealthy industrialist Bruce Wayne (and Batman) in The Dark Knight Rises, was amazed that the Christopher and Jonathan Nolan-written script actually had foreseen the protest that exploded a few New York blocks from where they were shooting."By the time we were finished, it was like, 'How did you know?' " Bale said at a news conference in June. "It had become very topical."Likewise, Cosmopolis, adapted from Don DeLillo's prescient 2003 novel of the same name. When protests started on Wall Street eight years later, Cronenberg was shooting remarkably similar scenes at a Canadian sound studio."It was the weirdest coincidence and a bit spooky," Cronenberg says.The crowds in the film vandalize Pattinson's limo, brandish a dead rat and cause mayhem. But like the real occupiers, the Cosmopolis protests fizzle by movie's end."I have no doubt that people are still as outraged about the things as they were a year ago," Cronenberg says. "But there's only so much energy you can generate for something like that."That energy also can be directed at Abitrage's Gere, who represents the 1% poster boy to the dissatisfied."We are all frustrated by what happened to our economy," says director Nicholas Jarecki. "People want to know: Why did everything have to go down the drain? We tried to humanize this story."Even teenage dance movies got the protest bug this summer. The Step Up franchise became Step Up Revolution, and beautiful protesters busted some anti-rich dance moves to stop a greedy Miami developer. Their weapon: a dance flash mob at an investors meeting."People have a sense of helplessness. With the economy, it's a scary time," says producer Jennifer Gibgot, explaining the rad plot. "People want to feel control, like the power is back to the people."For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.
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This fall, Hollywood will be going by the books

Didn't read the book? Not to worry. A flurry of movies pegged to best-selling books — both classic and contemporary — arrive in theaters this fall and winter, primers for those who never quite made it through the real deal.
'The Paperboy' by Pete Dexter is one of the many books being adapted into films this fall. It stars Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron and Matthew McConaughey.
'The Paperboy' by Pete Dexter is one of the many books being adapted into films this fall. It stars Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron and Matthew McConaughey.
English majors will love Emily Brontë's romantic Wuthering Heights (Oct. 5); Tolstoy's tale of adultery, Anna Karenina, starring Keira Knightley and Jude Law in the tragic novel's 13th movie adaptation (Nov. 16); and Les Misérables, the musical with Hugh Jackman (Dec. 14). That's just the beginning:• J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, directed by Peter Jackson and arriving Dec. 14•David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, starring Tom Hanks (Oct. 26)•Jack Kerouac's On the Road (Dec. 21) Leo Tolstoy's tragic classic 'Anna Karenina' stars Keira Knightley and Jude Law. Out Nov. 16, it's the novel's 13th movie adaptation.•Yann Martel's Life of Pi, starring Tobey Maguire (Nov. 23)•Pete Dexter's The Paperboy, with Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey (Oct. 5).What's going on? "A cynic would say this is a case of unoriginality, coupled with the pursuit of commerce," says Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box-office division of Hollywood.com. "Of course, books provide a plentiful source, picture-perfect for producers, writers and studio executives to exploit … and with a built-in concept and title already attached."All could be Oscar bait, too. Six of the nine nominees for last year's best picture were based on books:•The Descendants The first installment in Peter Jackson's three-part adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s tale 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' arrives Dec. 14. This is the movie tie-in book cover.•Hugo•The Help•Moneyball•War Horse•Extremely Loud & Incredibly CloseDergarabedian says there's nothing wrong with the trend — "so long as the movies are good."He cites the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Harry Potter series as examples of well-made movies from books. "The Twilight books have also spawned one of the most successful movie franchises of all time," he says. "The final installment (Nov. 16) is certain to be a massive worldwide hit."Fans of investigator Jack Reacher will not be disappointed, either, when the aptly titled Jack Reacher, adapted from One Shot, the ninth book in Lee Child's best-selling series, arrives in theaters Dec. 21, starring Tom Cruise.It's not a one-way street, either. Books often see a bump in sales when a movie tie-in edition arrives in bookstores."A movie with a Hollywood talent as big as Tom Cruise presents an amazing opportunity for the entire Jack Reacher franchise," says Libby McGuire, publisher of Ballantine Bantam Dell.And coming next summer: F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic, The Great Gatsby, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan. It had been set for a Christmas Day release but was moved.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.
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Foster defends Stewart in anti-media essay

Kristen Stewart fans may have forgotten that the Twilight
actress starred opposite Jodie Foster in the 2002 thriller Panic Room, but Foster's impassioned essay about the ills of Hollywood should be a vibrant reminder.
In her piece, which she wrote for The Daily Beast
, Foster recalls the close bond she forged while filming with a then-11-year-old Stewart, who played her daughter in the film.
"In 2001 I spent 5 months with Kristen Stewart on the set of Panic Room
mostly holed up in a space the size of a Manhattan closet. We talked and laughed for hours, sharing spontaneous mysteries and venting our boredom. I grew to love that kid."
MORE: Studio says Stewart not dropped from 'Snow White' sequel
Her love for "that kid" has endured through the years, so much so that Foster vehemently scolds gossip-hungry fans, paparazzi and the celebrity media, unleashing on them in the essay for building up and tearing down stars. (Stewart, 22, who's dating her Twilight
co-star Robert Pattinson, 26, is currently embroiled in a scandal after being caught kissing her married Snow White director Rupert Sanders, 41.)
She writes candidly:

"We've all seen the headlines at the check-out counter. 'Kristen Stewart Caught.' We've all thumbed the glossy pages here and there. 'Kris and Rob a couple?' We all catch the snaps. 'I like that dress. I hate the hair. Cute couple. Bad shoes.' There's no guilt in acknowledging the human interest in public linens. It's as old as the hills. Lift up beautiful young people like gods and then pull them down to earth to gaze at their seams. See, they're just like us. But we seldom consider the childhoods we unknowingly destroy in the process."

Foster, 49, goes on questioning whether she would survive as a young actress in this era of paparazzi and social media and TMZ, asking, "Would I drown myself in drugs, sex, and parties? Would I be lost?"
She then shares some of her memories of Stewart, including a possible reference to a home video of the actress as a young girl, full of happiness. Foster juxtaposes that image with the current public persona of Stewart as a sullen, awkward, unsmiling young star.

"A beautiful young woman strides down the sidewalk alone, head down, hands drawn into fists. She's walking fast, darting around huge men with black cameras thrusting at her mouth and chest. 'Kristen, how do you feel?' 'Smile Kris!' 'Hey, hey, did you get her?' 'I got her. I got her!' The young woman doesn't cry. (Expletive) no. She doesn't look up. She's learned. She keeps her head down, her shades on, fists in her pockets. Don't speak. Don't look. Don't cry."

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Big ideas fail to sprout in well-meaning 'Timothy Green'

Maybe those who believe in sticky-sweet miracles will have an easy time sitting through The Odd Life of Timothy Green. By Phil Bray, Disney
'The Odd Life of Timothy Green,' starring Jennifer Garner, left, CJ Adams and Joel Edgerton, gives a good effort but can't overcome sappy sentimentality and gaping plot holes.
By Phil Bray, Disney
'The Odd Life of Timothy Green,' starring Jennifer Garner, left, CJ Adams and Joel Edgerton, gives a good effort but can't overcome sappy sentimentality and gaping plot holes.
But for many it will be hard to overlook the unfortunate combination of mawkish sentimentality and gaping plot holes that characterizes this well-intentioned film.There's certainly a place for suspending disbelief in films steeped in magical realism. Drama/comedy fables such as Big and 13 Going on 30 effectively transported viewers to their whimsical alternate reality. But Timothy Green (**½ out of four; rated PG; opens today nationwide) feels more predictable than other-worldly.Devoted married couple Cindy (Jennifer Garner) and Jim (Joel Edgerton) have been unable to conceive, despite a host of procedures. To honor their efforts, they write a list of wishes for the child they dreamed of having. The traits they cite include bravery, big-heartedness, honesty to a fault and being musically "rocking." They bury this list ritualistically in a box in their garden in the scenic small town of Stanleyville, USA.Later that night, in the midst of a freak storm, a sweet-natured, mud-slathered 10-year-old boy knocks at their door. He acts a little odd and has leaves growing out of his legs, but otherwise he's like a regular kid. He does seem particularly fond of the garden and raises his arms to bask in the sun at unlikely moments. It's no coincidence that the couple's last name is Green.Flummoxed only briefly, Cindy and Jim embrace this wide-eyed boy and alternately celebrate and smother him. Strangely, no one in their town questions the sudden appearance of a new child. He's clearly there to impart his earthy wisdom and teach adults important life lessons.The Odd Life of Timothy Green
**1/2 out of four
Stars: Jennifer Garner, Joel Edgerton, CJ Adams, Dianne Wiest, Rosemarie DeWitt, David Morse, Common, Shohreh Aghdashloo
Director: Peter Hedges
Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
Rating: PG for mild thematic elements and brief language
Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes
Opens today nationwide
There's a calculated quality here that is off-putting and surprising, given that it was directed and co-written by Peter Hedges, who wrote the masterful What's Eating Gilbert Grape and nimbly adapted About a Boy from Nick Hornby's novel. CJ Adams as the sprout-turned-boy is winning in a role that couldn't have been easy for an 11-year old to play. Garner is convincing as a warm-hearted, if tense, mom and Edgerton is also likeable. But naysayers like David Morse as Jim's dad, Ron Livingston as Jim's boss and Rosemarie DeWitt as Cindy's sister are little more than caricatures.The film touches on bigger issues such as helicopter parenting and coping with an emotionally distant father. Subplots are packed in, including the economic woes of a town powered by a pencil factory that is struggling with layoffs. What Timothy Green does best is capture the sadness of infertility, celebrate the eccentricities of an endearing child and probe the longings, fears and worries of parents.Still, this fable about a magical child undoubtedly worked better on paper, allowing for more introspection and emotional exploration. Mostly, The Odd Life of Timothy Green feels contrived , if undeniably sweet.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.
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