Click to play videoCast: John Cusack, Bobby Coleman
Director: Menno Meyjes
I've rarely missed a film that stars John Cusack, but how I wish I'd skipped this one. Martian Child which opens at cinemas this weekend, is not an unwatchable movie. But it's schmaltzy and sentimental, and it kills me to have to watch the incredibly gifted Mr Cusack waste his nice-guy charm on a movie as calculated as this one.
Cusack stars as recently widowed sci-fi novelist David Gordon who recognizes a fellow damaged soul in a six-year-old orphan kid named Dennis who he decides to adopt. Dennis then is unlike any other kid. He walks around inside a cardboard box to stay away from the sun, and he wears a belt packed with batteries so he doesn't float up into the sky. He has trouble being around other kids, and he tends to steal things that don't belong to him. Dennis, you see, believes he's from Mars.
Hopeful that his own lifelong experiences as an outsider will allow him to heal the wounded child, David makes every effort to be the perfect parent; and the rest of this story involves this odd pair slowly opening up to each other and rescuing one another in the process.
Despite its blindingly obvious yet honorable notion that it takes a person in need to help a person in need, Martian Child is never an easy watch because the emotions are false. Instead of genuinely moving moments, the film comes packed with scenes that feel artificially sweetened in an effort to tug at your heartstrings.
And yet the only reason you manage to survive all 106 minutes of this contrived drama is because John Cusack is endearing and occasionally goofy as the befuddled new daddy finding his feet. Some of the smartest moments in this film take place between Cusack's character David and his sister, a practical suburban-mom who's dead against his decision to adopt the kid. This role of David's sister is played by Cusack's own sister Joan Cusack who is easily the most believable and yet the most feisty character in this film.
The kid Dennis, meanwhile, played by Bobby Coleman is likeable, but only in parts. The same in fact, can be said for the film too.
I'm going with an average rating and hence two out of five for Martian Child. The movie ends with a teary, hug-filled climax and by then, believe me, you're ready to puke.
Rating: 2 / 5 (Average)
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