Martian Child

Martian Child (John Cusack, Bobby Coleman, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Joan Cusack, Anjelica Huston) – The Cusack clan stays close and alternates studio films with independent films.  This story of a science fiction writer who longs to do something meaningful feels like an indie flick but has had widespread distribution.  At its heart, it’s a small movie about a troubled child who’s adopted by the writer (John Cusack) because he knows what it feels like to be different, ostracized, and out of the ordinary.  The irony is that this science fiction writer wants to adopt the six year old (Bobby Coleman) who says he’s from Mars.  The story is heartwarming and a little saccharine, but it’s also intriguing and a touch tense.  I am a huge John Cusack fan, back to his days in The Grifters but most recently when I inhaled High Fidelity, my favorite movie from 2000.  The Chicago native of a very theatrical family (his father, Dick, and siblings Joan, Ann, Bill and Suzie are all actors) loves working with friends, and this is an incestuous cast.  Cusack worked with Coleman in Must Love Dogs; with Amanda Peet (who plays the best friend of his deceased wife) in Identity; with Oliver Platt (who plays his agent) in The Ice Harvest; Anjelica Huston (who plays his publisher) in The Grifters; and his sister, Joan (who plays his sister), in Grosse Pointe Blank and High Fidelity.  The chemistry of the cast is crystal clear.  And it’s necessary to keep this longer-than-necessary drama from getting too sappy and predictable.  This film will not be a box office success but it is well worth your time and money.