I could not stop myself from crying at the end of this film. I was so farklempt (remember that from “Saturday Night Live”??”. This is a sweetly sentimental whimsical film that has dual messages that’s  old school Disney all the way.

The always winsome Jennifer Garner  and Joel Edgerton (who co-starred with Tom Hardy in the underrated “Warrior”) are a loving couple in a small town who are shattered  when they find out once and for all they can’t ever become biological parents.  That night, knowing they have to move on, they share a bottle of wine as they write down the characteristics  they envision for their never-to-be-born child . They put the cards in a box and bury it in the garden.   The same night, a ten year old boy appears in their  house, calling them Mom  and Dad.  Played by CJ Adams, Timothy Green has all the characteristics his parents  dreamed up. Strangely, he has 5 leaves growing from his legs.  Told you it’s a fairy tale!! 

Parents and kids will relate . The message for parents: we all screw  up.  The message for kids: accept our differences.  This one may be too syrupy for some.  But I was just enchanted. It has a “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” vibe- both were written by Peter Hedges, who also directs. Also on his resume “About A Boy”.  So yeah- this is a man all about family.  The families we’re born into and the ones we make.

3 stars