Tim is an illiterate young man with a slight mental handicap. He does odd jobs in the neighbourhood. When Mary an intelligent and well-to-do neighbour asks him back to do another job for her, he says simply and honestly."I like you". This begins a new phase in Tim's life. On the one hand he has an over-protective family and on the other a teacher and a friend who takes him in hand and expands his horizons. Mel Gibson in one of his early films does a great job in getting inside Tim's character - simple and innocent, honest and sincere, never mawkish, never over-dramatic. This is a gentle film with the accent on family life. You can feel the exhilaration when Mary takes Tim to the beach and the childish exuberance as he plunges into the sea. Undoubtedly, he makes her feel young again. Mary is a bit of a mystery at first. What are her motives? Is she just expressing a motherly instinct when she feels she needs to care for him or does she see something more in their relationship.. Undoubtedly she is physically attracted to him as he goes about his gardening in neat T=shirt and shorts. I feel that in the beginning of the film Tim's family is just too perfect to be true, but when disaster strikes it becomes a real family with all the emotions that beset them. Mary seeks advice from a psychologist friend about her feelings towards Tim. I really doubt that the answer he gives is correct or practicable for a woman of her standing, but it makes for a happy ending!
Review of Tim
