Review of Martian Child (2007) by Jeff Z — 04 Dec 2010

For awhile there Cusack appeared to be in some sort of challenge with Nicholas Cage as to who could put out the most crappy, forgettable movies. "1408", "War, Inc.", "Igor", "Grace is Gone", etc, etc. So the chances were eventually he'd make a decent one by accident alone. This is that one. An interesting story about a widowed sci-fi writer (though he has Amanda Peet eyeing him from the start!) who decides to adopt a weird little boy who claims to be from Mars. It gets weirder when he proves he can tell the color of things by their taste and seems to be able to change stoplights at will. Is he or isn't he? Gotta watch to see.

The ending is maybe a little too sweet (the resolve of the book thing with "Grifters" co-star Anjelica Huston), but this is worth seeing for the strong supporting performances of John's sister Joan and Bobby Coleman, who plays the weird little kid.