M&M: Martian Child

Dear reader,

I know the title may sound a bit cheesy-stupid and this is supposed to be a story worth watching and being reviewed by me? Yes!

Martian Child tells the – as always in case of movies only partly – true story of the writer David Gerrold and the experiences of a small boy named Dennis, whom he decided to adopt. I'll first tell you a bit of the story as told in the movie and then of the book, which I have read, too.

David (played by John Cusack) is a science-fiction writer, who's books are also made into movies. Even before the movie starts, his wife has died. Now he's living alone with his dog. One day he gets the idea of maybe adopting a child. He wants somebody around again and wants to do something good. With so many children without a proper home, it only seems right to adopt a child. Even though his sister Liz (played by John Cusack's real life oder sister, Joan Cusack) explicitly warns him about that, “Listen, the thing about kids, and I wouldn't trade mine for the world, is that they keep comin' at you, all right? They're... they're like mosquitoes, suckin' the life out of you. They take away your life, your privacy, your identity...”

But David already has contacts to a children's home and they also have a possible special boy in mind for him. The special thing about Dennis (powerfully played by Bobby Coleman) is, that he's certain to be from mars. It takes a while for Dennis to build up contact to David. He is in a box turned upside down in the children's home all the time, to protect himself from the sunlight. During a ride with the car, Dennis likes the “holding-down belt”. It guarantees him to be staying on earth ant not float away, much like the weights he is constantly wearing around his ankles.

Of course you can't just adopt a child like that. There are doctors and other organisations, that want to check everything is ok and want to have talks. Especially since Dennis is a bit difficult what with his idea of being from mars and also he steals from other children and David's things, too. Those check-ups aren't always pre-announced.

Although Dennis is certainly somewhat unusual, he is nevertheless very charming and David is a very trying and sympathetic and patient father for him. Probably what safes them both is the fact that David, as a writer, just simply has the time to take care of Dennis and since he's working from home, he also isn't away as much as other single parents would naturally be. There are repeatedly very funny moments. My favourite quote from Dennis however is something he says to David during a baseball game. David tries to explain the game to him and what it means when the players are really good. Because then they are a superstar! To which Dennis says, in a stunningly matter-of-fact way, “Superstars don't exists. Only supernovas and white dwarfs.”

But one night, when David is on an event for his books, he comes home and his sister has to tell him that Dennis ran away unnoticed. And then there's the final talk with the authorities and Dennis to decide whether Dennis can actually stay with David. I will not tell you how those two very exciting moments are concluded. You'll have to see that for yourself, really. It's well worth it. There are a lot of funny moments, at least one really sad one as well and there's drama and excitement also. I enjoy watching that movie time and again. Especially how everything is developing between Dennis and David with both of them being very unsure and insecure and then coming together, I just like seeing that progress. This progress and the many different emotions that come up, at least inside me when I'm watchting that movie, makes it worth watching for me every time. The title really shouldn't keep you away from it!

I can't tell you about the movie extras in america, because I don't have that version. My european version at least also includes an interview with the “real” Dennis and David and also insight into how the movie was made. Especially hearing what it was it is like for Dennis and David now and what they think of the past and their time together at the beginning, is a nice extra for me. The german synchronisation is quite well done, by the way. With one exception, which I don't understand at all and frankly find outrageously done in the execution. It certainly could have been done a different way, I think. David's dog is called “Somewhere” in English. Which makes it a nice playing with words of a direction as well as a name when you say, “Somewhere a dog barked.” In the movie in german they called him “Once upon a time”. I think, “Irgendwo” (the german “somewhere”) would have worked, too. But maybe I'm just picky...

In “real life” the adoption was a bit more complicated. The authorities don't like a single parents adopting a child much anyway. The “real” David Gerrold however also is gay. Certainly nothing dramatic, but also not really exactly a plus in the eyes of the authorities either. All in all there are many moments from the film in the book and vice versa. I personally found the situation when Dennis runs away more dramatic and depicted more exciting in the movie. The situation in the book was a little bit different, and especially the reasons why Dennis ran away at that moment. In fact I found his motivation in the book even quite a bit more sad and dramatic, even though it is depicted in a more dangerous way in the movie. I've seen the movie first and only read the book afterwards. I don't know if it's because of that and because I had certain ideas in my head already. In any case, I liked the movie a bit more. The book seemed in some parts like it was cut and I wished that some moments would have gone on a bit longer, explained a bit more in how they went on. But instead came a new paragraph and a new experience. Nevertheless the book is worth reading, too.

Until next blog,

sarah