We watched Martian Child (2007) tonight. I was in need of emotional nurturing, so this was the perfect feel-good snot-en-trane movie. It is based on a real-life story in the form of a novelette written by David Gerrold: “A widower who writes about Mars adopts a son who claims he is from Mars.”
The plot is fairly straightforward: Science fiction writer David Gordon (played by John Cusack, whom I always like) has lost his wife two years earlier. He decides to adopt a very strange six-year old orphan boy Dennis (played by Bobby Coleman) who is somehow convinced that he comes from Mars.
I was wondering pretty much for most of the movie whether Dennis WAS actually from Mars, because his behaviour was convincingly odd. And I think David was keeping his options open too.
However, David’s sister Liz (played by John’s real-life sister Joan) and his agent Jeff (Oliver Platt) both try to bring David back down to earth by pointing out that, as a parent, he needs to be clearer about the difference between reality and fantasy.
Spoilsports.
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For other movies we’ve watched in May, click on:
Grains of Sand 