Martian Child (DVD)

As a critic, I believe most of what I have to say about Martian Child is largely irrelevant to the people who would actually be interested in seeing it. I don't think it would be that bold of a claim to state most Rope of Silicon readers have no interest in a movie about a sci-fi writer adopting a kid who thinks he's from Mars, and, however competently executed the movie is, I can't say I blame them.

Chances are, you've already seen at least a few movies that are more or less just like Martian Child. As I already hinted at, Martian Child stars John Cusack as a science fiction writer who decides to adopt a child, Dennis (the exaggeratedly hoarse Bobby Coleman), two years after the loss of his wife. The only draw-back is Dennis has suffered through several unpleasant adoptions, and has convinced himself he's from Mars. As you'd expect, the movie focuses on David's relationship with Dennis, and how they learn from each other. The story unfolds rather predictably, but it would be unfair to slam it for that. Cusack's expectedly good performance slightly elevates the movie, but doesn't exactly make it worth watching. While there may be nothing to make you reel in the hatred and shout obscenities at your DVD player, there isn't anything to make you turn it on, either.

The special features are predictably shallow for this kind of movie, and will probably leave you unsatisfied. A handful of featurettes do little more than give those involved with the movie a chance to congratulate themselves, and the deleted scenes are expectedly dull. As for the other feature, a commentary with director Menno Meyjes and a few others, it's safe to say the most fun part is typing his name. Menno.

I'm very much aware this review is shorter than normal, but there really isn't anything else one can say about Martian Child. It would be incredibly easy to take shots at it for being derivative and bland, but it honestly does not seem as if the filmmakers aimed for anything more. They met their goal in a manner more competently than the norm, but that's not necessarily a good thing. Just because Martian Child is fairly easy to sit through doesn't mean you should.