Odd Thomas (film)

Odd Thomas (Yelchin) is a psychic who lives in a small town in California. He describes his ability as, "I see dead people, but then, by God, I do something about it."

One day Odd has a vision of faceless people wearing bowling shirts who cry out to him to save them. A faceless gunman shoots them all, including Odd. Recovering from the disturbing dream, he goes to his job as a short-order cook. He serves lunch to a strange man named Robert Robertson, whose hair resembles some kind of mold, which is why Odd gives him the nickname Fungus Bob. Fungus Bob is surrounded by dozens of bodachs, invisible creatures that feed on evil and carnage whom only Odd can see. Odd's co-worker, Viola Peabody (Mbatha-Raw), recounts a strange dream in which she saw herself shot dead with another man. The man's clothing is identical to that worn by the faceless people in Odd's vision.

Odd uses his psychic magnetism to pursue Fungus Bob; the trail leads to the mall where Odd's girlfriend Stormy (Timlin) is manager at an ice cream shop. Odd follows Fungus Bob to his house, breaking in once he leaves. Odd finds a file containing newspaper clippings of mass murderers, arranged by name. There is also a blank calendar page for the next day; Odd realizes that Robertson is planning something bad on that date. Odd reports this to Chief Porter at his house, and meets Officer Eckles and Lysette, who once dated Harlo after being set up by Chief Porter and his wife. Porter assigns two deputies to follow Fungus Bob.

Odd meets Stormy for dinner in the belfry of a church. He sees Fungus Bob approaching and they flee to the sacristy, which Robertson destroys as they escape. Stormy calls Chief Porter, who finds the church vandalized but no evidence to link it to Robertson. Odd's psychic magnetism leads him and Stormy to a bowling alley, where the bowling shirts from his vision have just become the new uniform. Chief Porter sends Officer Simon Varner (Tortorella) to watch the place on Odd's advice. Varner asks Odd about Robertson and is suspicious to learn that Odd had encountered him only a few hours ago, and presses for more information.

Viola remembers more details of her dream; she tells Odd that she and the man in the bowling shirt were not the only victims of the shooting, and a large group of people were killed. Odd sees bodachs hovering over Vi's daughters, and he advises her to leave town with her daughters immediately. While driving home, Stormy is overcome with fear for Odd's safety and he tries to comfort her. They hear a woman screaming: Odd finds Chief Porter’s wife with Lysette, who has been mauled to death by dogs resembling those at Robertson's home. Another man was said to have tried rescuing her by shooting the dogs, but was too late.

Odd finds Fungus Bob shot to death in his bathtub, with evidence framing Odd for the murder. Odd surmises that if he goes to the police, Porter will be compelled to arrest him based on the evidence, keeping him from preventing the next day's disaster. He discovers that Bob has been dead for quite some time and deduces that the encounter at the church was with the dead man's restless spirit. Wrapping the body in sheets, Odd dumps the corpse in the execution chamber of an abandoned prison.

Chief Porter is shot in a home invasion. Odd rushes to the hospital and learns that Porter is alive thanks to a metal trinket Odd had given him, but in serious condition. Returning to Bob's home, Odd finds a receipt for a moving van and improvised explosives, and browser bookmarks for Satanic websites. He searches the fridge and freezer and discovers various human body parts as well. Robertson's poltergeist destroys the house as Odd escapes, though he loses his cell phone in the process.

Odd investigates Bob's fatal bullet wound, and finds a tattoo matching Varner's. He realizes that "POD" is an abbreviation for "Prince of Darkness". Odd realizes that Robertson was eliminated by his co-conspirators because Odd had begun to look into him. Odd's psychic magnetism leads him back to the mall, where Officer Eckles has murdered the mall security staff; Odd disables him with a baseball bat. He takes Eckles's pistol and seeks out Varner. Hearing screams from the end of the mall where Stormy works, he hurries to the site, and spots another gunman firing off an automatic weapon. Odd fires at the gunman with Eckles's weapon, killing him as he attempts to reload. Odd removes the gunman's mask and recognizes him as the man who tried to rescue Lysette.

The lingering spirit of Lysette appears, directing him to the loading dock. There he discovers Bob's moving van packed with explosives on a timer — apparently part of a plan to kill the shoppers in the mall and arriving first responders. Odd manages to start the van and drive it away from the mall, when Varner returns and shoots Odd. Varner clings to the outside of the van, attempting to finish off Odd. Odd jumps from the van as Varner enters the cab, and the van crashes into a man-made canal and explodes, incinerating Varner but killing no one else.

Odd wakes in the hospital to Stormy tending to him. Viola greets him and tells him that Porter has been released from intensive care, and that Odd is a local hero.

Later, Odd retreats to Stormy's apartment to enjoy uninterrupted time with her. Porter, his wife, and Viola arrive and reveal what he already knows: Stormy was killed in the mall shooting and he has been spending time with her lingering spirit. Porter, realizing that Stormy is staying in this world only for Odd, advises him to let her go. Odd bids her a tearful farewell, promising her that they'll be reunited one day. Then Odd travels to Las Vegas to continue his crusade to help the living and the lingering dead, believing that he is not yet worthy of an afterlife with Stormy.

• Anton Yelchin as Odd Thomas, the clairvoyant cook with supernatural powers to see the dead. He must destroy the threat to Pico Mundo. Jack Justice plays young Odd Thomas.
• Addison Timlin as Bronwyn "Stormy" Llewellyn, Odd's love interest. She knows about Odd's powers and tries to help him out any way she can. Robin Lanning plays young Stormy.
• Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Viola, a waitress at the restaurant.
• Shuler Hensley as Fungus Bob, a mysterious suspect with mold as hair.
• Leonor Varela as Odd's Mother; seen in only flashbacks who too has the gift of clairvoyance and is committed to a mental hospital by Odd's father.
• Willem Dafoe as Wyatt Porter, the town's police chief who also knows about Odd's powers and helps out Odd in many ways.
• Melissa Ordway as Lysette, a blonde teenager.
• Nico Tortorella as Simon Varner, a suspicious police officer who dislikes Odd.
• Kyle McKeever as Bern Eckles, another police officer who works for Wyatt.
• Laurel Harris as Karla Porter, Wyatt's wife.

With cameo appearances by Patton Oswalt as Ozzie, Matthew Page as Harlo Landerson, Morse Bicknel as Kevin Goss, Ashley Sommers as Penny Kalisto, and Arnold Vosloo as Tom Jedd.

Anton Yelchin was attached to star in the film early on.[4] Summers said that Yelchin was his only choice to play Odd Thomas.[5] Early casting announcements included 50 Cent as Shamus Cocobolo[6] as well as Lily Collins[7] and Tim Robbins[7] none of whom ultimately ended up appearing in the film. Production began in May 2011 in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Albuquerque.[8]

Dean Koontz himself enjoyed the film saying "It is so wonderful that I am whacked flat by happiness."[5]

The film wrapped in 2011 but was delayed.[9] In July 2013, it was reported that the release of the film had been delayed because of legal action by Two Out of Ten Productions against Outsource Media Group and others for breach of contract. The suit alleges that $25 million should have been spent on prints and advertising to support a release of Odd Thomas in the U.S., and another $10 million to partially refinance certain loans.[10]

The film was released on DVD in the UK in February 2014. A German dubbed version was released in December 2013.

It was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United States on March 25th, 2014. It has grossed a total of $3.2 million in DVD and Blu-ray sales in the United States, As of January 2021.[2]

As of October 2015, Odd Thomas is available to watch on Netflix's streaming service in some areas. Odd Thomas, as of 2020, is available on the Hulu and Prime Video streaming services.

• Odd Thomas at IMDb
• Odd Thomas at AllMovie
• Odd Thomas at the TCM Movie Database
• Odd Thomas at Metacritic
• Odd Thomas at Rotten Tomatoes