Starring: John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Bobby Coleman, Sophie Okonedo, Joan Cusack Directed By: Menno Meyjes Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) Binding: DVD Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC Label: New Line Cinema Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: February 12, 2008 Running Time: 107 minutes Theatrical Release Date: November 02, 2007
Product Description: After decades of playing single men in romantic comedies from the classic SAY ANYTHING to the critical favorite HIGH FIDELITY the year 2007 marks a change for John Cusack. With roles as fathers in 1408 GRACE IS GONE and MARTIAN CHILD the beloved actor grows up and deserves some of the highest praise of his career. In MARTIAN CHILD David Gordon (Cusack) is a successful science fiction author plagued by both the death of his wife and writer s block. When a group home worker (Sophie Okonedo) tries to pair him with a young boy named Dennis (Bobby Coleman) David initially resists. But once David spends time with Dennis he realizes how special the boy is. The outsider (and sci-fi fan) in David thinks he might just understand Dennis best since the child believes that he s from Mars and he ll return there soon. David and Dennis struggle to create the most unconventional of families as Dennis strives to learn more about being human.MARTIAN CHILD is a moving drama that works because of the genuine performances of everyone involved but it rides on both the experienced shoulders of Cusack and those of his young costar Coleman. Both excel at communicating their characters isolation and eventual connection but it s Coleman s work in his first major role that is such a pleasant surprise. Supporting turns from Cusack s sister Joan (who plays his sister in the film) and Amanda Peet add emotional depth to the sweet story. MARTIAN CHILD is based on the autobiographical novel by David Gerrold who is most famous for writing the STAR TREK fan favorite "The Trouble with Tribbles."Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY/FAMILY GATHERINGS UPC: 794043106835 Manufacturer No: N10683
Amazon.com: The skeptical, melancholy eyes of John Cusack anchor Martian Child, a sweet but not cloying story of a widowed man who adopts a misfit kid who believes he's from another planet. David Gordon (Cusack) is a successful science-fiction author--which is perhaps what leads a children's counselor (Sophie Okonedo, Dirty Pretty Things) to pair him with a would-be extra-terrestrial named Dennis (Bobby Coleman). Reluctantly at first, David tries to communicate with Dennis by fostering his belief--but as they grow attached to each other, the administrators of the organization that put them together sees this playing along as a failure to be a proper parent and threatens to take Dennis away. The first two-thirds or so of Martian Child are marvelous; though the scenario could be saccharine, the script and performances are full of details and complexities that make it feel genuine and affecting. The last third, unfortunately, seems to be the result of studio meddling, for the themes and emotions become awkwardly overstated. But what will stay with you are the moments of refreshing honesty and tender trust from the earlier part of the movie; the ending, clumsy and tone-deaf though it is, doesn't wipe away the delicate earlier interplay of David and Dennis. Also featuring Oliver Platt (Funny Bones), Amanda Peet (Igby Goes Down), and Anjelica Huston (Prizzi's Honor). --Bret Fetzer
Thank you Thank you for shipping this so quickly and the dvd is was in very good shape, no scratches!
An Exceptional Movie The boy (Bobby Coleman) was amazing! You will most certainly see more from him in the future. Beautiful, heartwarming tale of a widower in the midst of adopting a troubled young boy who believes he is from Mars. John Cusack is always great to watch and does not disappoint here. This movie is well worth the time invested. I would recommend it!
Excellent movie with rare presentation of male role This movie has very unique in that the lead char is not some cartoon character as is common in most movies where the guy becomes a father figure such as those by the Rock or Whole Nine Yards. The kids pain is quite real but not in your face while the movie builds to a well reasoned and emotinally satisifying conclusion with breakthroughs for all the lad characaters. Great movie to watch when your tired of movies that center on people dying, heros that somehow avoid being hit by hours of machine buy spray, or trite "feel good movies" ending with the the guy on microphone at some public event professing his love.
Out of this world LOVED THIS MOVIE! I don't know how I had never heard of this movie. John Cusack plays a widower who writes science fiction novels. He decides that he wants to do something meaningful in his life and decides to adopt a child. He is paired up with a child who has abandonment issues and pretends that he is from Mars. The movie is based on a true story and is a chronicle of how they relate one another, and grow closer over time. Don't miss this one!
Were you expecting About A Boy meets K-Pax? ...
The movie starts off, as expected with a soft narration by Cusack about the reality of his mundane life and how he was changed by the true events that the reader/viewer is about to see, it's not quite clear which. But this narration and slow pan to Cusack in a director's chair is not an introduction to this film, but possibly an interview to another film in the fictitious realm of the movie. Okay, is this the best way to start a movie? I don't think so.
So let me stop right there.
The story, while `loosely based' on true accounts and at times heartfelt, does initially come across as muddled, confused and without a real direction. The tone is supposed to be that light feeling that you might've experienced when you watched Notting Hill or About a Boy, two very decent `movies' played deftly by Hugh Grant. Now, here again we seem to have to indomitable John Cusack following the stylist coat-tails of Grant, to deliver up this strange and camp tale about a widower and his adopted son. But somewhere, the filmmakers decided that an intermittent narration is better than a full narration. Note to Menno Meyjes: "If you're going to include a narration in the movie, include it. Half-measures never bear much fruit, and what fruit there is, is usually rotten."
I was moved once or twice while watching this, a sense of awe is created in the film that keeps you close, but sadly, it never really delivers. The real drag is when you find out that the boy is not from Mars, but it's just a ruse he employs because of personal and social detachment and Cusack, ahem ... David, does his best to placate the boy and keep him under the radar of Child Protective Services and give him a normal life, despite what he's been through. Some of the acting is very forgettable and lacking the type of angst that you would've expected from both of these actors, Cusack and Bobby Coleman.
Now, I've discussed bad and trite endings in other reviews that should always be avoided. Now it seems that I'll have to put `runs away to a planetarium' on the list of these no-no's because what could've been a decent film, is spoiled by the `climax' at the end where the boy does his best to sabotage his human existence with his new father David Gerrold and brings the heat of the law down on him. Joan Cusack does her best job interview for future Disney movies by standing next to Amanda Peet, feigning concern for the camera about a boy who might plunge from a height.
Maybe I was expecting something a little along the lines of K-Pax. But, maybe if it went that direction everyone would've complained that it was too much like K-Pax. Perhaps a stronger marketing campaign for this movie and getting the message out there about it being a `true story' would've helped audience expectation. The cover of this DVD is a good example of the poor strategy that went into this project overall. It looks like an eighties Wham! poster that a tween-age girl might hang on her wall, not the poster for a dramatic film about adoption, detachment, emotional growth and bonding. Good lord, people. Could you have hashed this thing up any worse?
And regarding the issue about David Gerrold being a gay, single father in real-life and this issue being ignored on-screen, just comes across as incredibly lame. At least Robin Williams had the guts to portray Armistead Maupin in The Night Listener and let the audience know what the real truth was with his character. Glassing over this minor point smacks of 'political correctness'. A black mark for sure on Cusack's record.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tony's Online Tips
Trevor
