John Cusack
stars as David – a widowed science fiction writer looking to
open up his home
and heart to a young child who needs both.
Since this is a unique situation, the local adoption
agency sees an
opportunity to help a unique child.
Young
Dennis (Bobby Coleman) is a loner who thinks he is from Mars, and
spends most
of his day in a cardboard box to avoid the Earth’s deadly
rays (and avoid
interaction with the kids who think he is weird).
Now, David wants to help reach out to the kid
and give him the kind of home where he won’t always be an
outcaste.
Will David be
able to help this troubled child?
Martian
Child is
everything you expect it to be, then it goes on for another 20 minutes
rehashing it all for anyone who might have snuck out to the concession
stand or
bathroom. I
don’t have an objection to a
formulaic movie if it is done well, and Martian
Child borders on done
well most
of the time, but director Menno Meyjes and writers Seth Bass and
Jonathan
Tolins (based on the novel by David Gerrold) disrupt the formula for no
good
reason.
The audience is
treated to the cute scenes where David and Dennis start to bond, and we
realize
they are kindred souls. We
get the
scenes of David struggling with his new parental duties, as well as
trying to
get to the heart of Dennis’s problems.
You might even have the suspicion we will have a big
custody hearing
showdown where David must profess his love for the kid and show how
much they have
grown (I’m not giving anything away if you have seen one
commercial or trailer
for Martian
Child).
However, instead of
coming up with some unique story or approach after what most of us
would
consider to be the climax, Meyjes and team just rehash the same stuff
that we
thought we dealt with already. We
don’t
need another similar crisis. We
don’t
need Dennis struggling with the same issues we thought he overcame. That’s not being
original. That’s
being repetitive.
Bass and Tolin
provide
a script with good dialogue at times, like some moments where David
doles out
fatherly advice to his kid. They
even
give some great material to supporting comic relief characters played
by Oliver
Platt and Joan Cusack, especially for Cusack as the most realistic and
truth
speaking mother you will see on a screen.
However, Meyjes presents the conflict too quickly as
David suddenly
finds himself in trouble too soon.
Martian
Child has some
touching moments, and good acting from all of the adults, so you might
be able to stomach it.
2
Waffles (Out of 4)
Martian
Child is
rated PG for thematic elements and mild language.
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2007 - WaffleMovies.com