Reviewed by Lamar Kukuk
11/11/07
Everybody yearns, on some
level, to connect with other people. At least, “connect” is the word
we use as adults; when we're kids, we say “fit in”. Because while
as adults we might respect and even treasure our differences, the worst
possible thing for a child is to be different from those around them.
But when it's clear that those connections, that all-important “fit” isn't
going to happen, we're likely to recede into the fantasy that we never
wanted it to start with. Martian Child (it's been a long time since
a title so desperately pleaded for an introductory “The”), Menno Meyjes'
new film version of an autobiographical book by former Star Trek
writer David Gerrold, is a gentle, tentative story that takes this universal
bit of human psychology to the extreme. It's perhaps a bit too literal,
its' metaphor too superficial to spend so much time exploring, but the
movie is constantly engaging thanks to great performances by a first-rate
cast.
David (John Cusack) is a
science fiction writer riding high on the success of a bestseller he's
struggling to sequel. Always a social misfit, he's hard-pressed to
restart his life after the death of his wife, and finds himself revisiting
their plans to adopt a child. The adoption system isn't thrilled
to trust one of its' kids to a widower (Gerrold is gay, and elements of
the story make more sense if you substitute that word for “widower” in
your head when people are speaking), but case worker Sophie (Sophie Okonedo)
does have one child she thinks would be a great match. He's Dennis
(Bobby Coleman), an insanely introverted tot who spends his days inside
a shipping box, fearing exposure to sunlight. David is intrigued,
and slowly draws the boy out. Dennis claims to be from Mars, and
has built himself an elaborate delusion filled with rituals he must perform
to stay alive on the planet Earth. Sophie's boss Lefkowitz (Richard
Schiff) is skeptical of David's ability to care for such a troubled boy,
but he signs off on a temporary arrangement. At first, all is well.
David enjoys the little victories as he teaches Dennis about baseball and
tries to gently nudge him away from his fantasy world. But that world
proves virtually indestructible, and the weight on the first-time father
is overwhelming. Dennis is expelled from his elementary school, steals
compulsively, and insists that his time on Earth is nearing its' end.
Is there anything David can do to break down the Martian walls Dennis has
built around himself?
It's interesting to see a
movie about the actual mechanics of parenting: you could probably
only do this with any level of interest for a truly disturbed child, but
it's a fairly unique bit of storytelling to watch David try, with increasing
desperation, to nudge his adopted son away from madness. At first,
he views Dennis as simply eccentric, but it's to the movie's benefit that
while all of his Martian delusions have a squishy explanation, they're
not all wacky or even pleasant. It's easy to see why almost everyone
with whom the kid comes into contact eventually loses patience with him,
and Cusack does a great job visibly fighting to stay in the game when part
of him is also screaming to run. It's a strong performance, creating
a highly introverted character while allowing us to see the wheels turning
in his head at all times. Equally impressive is Coleman, whose fragile,
quiet performance keeps us from ever turning entirely against Dennis but
also doesn't shortchange the fact that the kid's a lot worse that “a little
odd”. David's support system is also well played, led by Joan Cusack
in the familiar role of David's sister Liz. It's great casting, because
Liz is the kind of sibling who lets you know that she's always behind you
in theory but that everything you're doing is wrong, and the real-life
familial warmth between the Cusacks keeps the role from becoming the irritant
it could have. Then, there's Amanda Peet as David's friend Harlee.
I'm a HUGE fan of Peet's, although she almost never turns up in good movies
(in fact, one of my favorite of her performances is in Identity,
a movie I despised), and this role allows her to get rare full use out
of her quirky warmth. It's hard to say exactly what Harlee is to
David, she was clearly close to his wife, and probably her sister, but
the movie never exactly spells it out. There's a scene that plays
at the notion that something more than friendship is in the air between
them and I really enjoyed the way Peet plays it: enjoying the thought
without any intention of acting on it, and it turns a scene that serves
an eye-rolling purpose (reference previous mention that David Gerrold is
gay) and makes it work. Harlee makes a perfect counterpoint to David,
someone who was weird herself as a kid, but found a way to embrace her
differences and be a happy adult. I really liked these four characters
and enjoyed watching them interact throughout the story. More conventional
support comes from Schiff, as the heartless bureaucrat who Just Doesn't
Understand and Oliver Platt, doing his Oliver Platt Thing as David's agent.
The biggest problem with
Martian Child is that the “alienation” theme raised by Dennis's
delusions isn't that difficult to decode and probably doesn't merit the
amount of screen time it gets. The movie is at least twenty minutes
too long, and could stand a few less relapses on the kid's part.
We all know he's not going to get better until the end, so there's no point
teasing us. Also, writers Seth Bass and Jonathan Tolins should have
lost the “Martian Wish” concept that's at first introduced to make us think
Dennis might really be from Mars (although from the first frame this clearly
isn't that kind of movie) and then overstays its' welcome long after anyone
should still be saying anything that humors him.
But all in all, Martian
Child is a nice, fuzzy little drama, good for some laughs (it's surprisingly
funny) and a few tears at the end. For those interested in the mechanics
of parenting troubled children (particularly adopted ones), it's even better.
And it doesn't hurt to be crazy about Amanda Peet, either. |
