Martian Child doesn't leave well-worn ground

November 5, 2007 —

It's another week, and another generic plug and play genre film. Martian Child is a sweet and sentimental movie, but one that does little to differentiate itself among a smattering of other movies that came before it. Considered on its own, it isn't too bad, but as part of the cinematic landscape it is sub par.

John Cusack plays David, a prominent science fiction writer and widower who, after two years without a companion, is considering adopting a child. Oddly, Cusack also plays a widower in the upcoming Grace is Gone, which looks to have a great deal more potential than Martian Child. Cusack does a nice job with this performance, and without him the film would likely have little ground to stand on.

After some deliberation and uncertainty, David decides to adopt Dennis (Bobby Coleman), a very strange young boy who spends his days inside a large box at the orphanage, and who also think he is from Mars.

I've oten lamented the mistake many movies make in portraying unnaturally intelligent children. This Macauley Culkin syndrome is exasperating and detracts from the realism of many films which would have been better off with a role resembling a real child. It's present in Martian Child as well, although it comes across more tolerably because the film is careful to show us that Dennis is a very unusual boy, very withdrawn, and probably has the potential for near-genius intellect. Other children in the film are more true-to-life, which is a godsend.

Some of the scenes between David and Dennis work very well. Cusack and Coleman play off each other well, and the jarring difference in lifestyle a new child inevitably brings upon a household is handled nicely. When Dennis imitates David's face in a Polaroid picture (which the boy is obssessed with taking), it's very funny and also shows Dennis's growth as a character as he begins to come out of his initial shell.

Unfortunately, Martian Child succumbs to the same I Am Sam, Big Daddy formula that it seems like every single-father film does. The father is seen as unfit to take care of the child, and at his triumphant breakthrough moment where they connect more than ever, authority marches in and threatens to separate them.

Martian Child also has a shamefully melodramatic climax. Without giving it away, I'll say that Dennis engages in foot-bound navigating that a child would in all likelihood be incapable of, merely for the sake of grandiosity.

Something Martian Child does handle skillfully is David's potential love interest. Amanda Peet plays Harlee, a friend of David's late wife who also helps him through his early days with Dennis. It's clear that they both may have feelings for each other, but David doesn't know it yet, or hasn't come to terms with it. The slight awkwardness of two friends who are interested in each other but don't know quite know how to show it is skillfully navigated.

Like last week's Dan in Real Life, Martian Child is a movie with some pretty good casting and partial elements of a good story. It's like a rough draft. Perhaps with some critique and revision the story could have been reworked into something better. Certainly if it was more confined to Cusack and Coleman, without the plot devices, it could have been something to remember.