Martian Child

Menno Meyjes

Overview

A man whose wife has recently passed away adopts a seven-year-old boy he believes to be from the planet Mars in this seriocomic take on father-son relations starring John Cusack, Joan Cusack, Amanda Peet, and Oliver Platt.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/12/2008
UPC:	0794043106835
Original Release:	2007
Rating:	PG
Source:	New Line Home Video
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:47:00
Sales rank:	52,878

Special Features

Closed Caption; Feature audio commentary with producers David Kirschner and Corey Sienega and writers Seth E. Bass and Jonathan Tolins; Deleted scenes; "Handle With Care Working With the Martian Child" featurette; "The Real Martin Child" featurette

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Bobby Coleman	Dennis
Sophie Okonedo	Sophie
Anjelica Huston	Mimi
Oliver Platt	Jeff
Taya Calicetto	Actor
Zak Ludwig	Actor
David Kaye	Actor
Aaron Zigman	Composer

Technical Credits

Jonathan Tolins

Seth E. Bass

Menno Meyjes	Director
Joan Cusack	Director,Director
Oliver Platt	Director
Richard Schiff	Director
Bobby Coleman	Director
Sophie Okonedo	Director
Corey Sienega	Producer
Ed Elbert	Producer
Jonathan Tolins	Screenwriter
Seth E. Bass	Screenwriter,Screenwriter
Matt Moore	Executive Producer
Mark Kaufman	Executive Producer
Mike Drake	Executive Producer
Toby Emmerich	Executive Producer
David Gerrold	Executive Producer
Robert Jackson	Sound/Sound Designer
Michael Williamson	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Martian Child is the K-PAX of movies in which widowers adopt orphans. This dismissive summation does not mean Menno Meyjes' film is bad, just that it can be neatly categorized: it's an inspirational drama with just enough whimsy to keep it from constantly tugging at your heart strings. Dennis (Bobby Coleman) is like K-PAX's Prot (Kevin Spacey) in several ways, not least of which is the idea that he really could be from outer space. Both characters have powers that are super-human enough to defy explanation, and both appear to know intimate details about their home planet and native tongue, which are brilliantly complicated delusions at the very least. The big difference is that Dennis is a child in need of guardianship, so when John Cusack's science fiction writer takes that leap, its replete with the danger of worsening the child's evident psychological trauma if the adoption doesn't stick. Cusack is the main element that shakes Martian Child out of its comfortable formula; his anguished and soulful performance truly gets inside the enormity of this perilous new responsibility. Coleman also does decent work, though that comes with an unavoidable asterisk. Namely, Dennis' affect must be strange in order to convince us he thinks he's an alien, but Coleman's rote and whispery line deliveries could also just be poor craft. (Not that picking on a ten-year-old actor is ever really fair.) The rest of the details fall into place more or less as expected -- Amanda Peet is on hand as a tentative love interest for Cusack's grieving widower, Oliver Platt is on hand as the obligatory literary agent nagging his client for manuscript pages, and Joan Cusack is on hand because, well, she's John Cusack's sister. Still, Martian Child exceeds expectations enough to be worth a flier, especially for K-PAX fans.