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Movie Review for Martian Child
Movie Review for
Martian Child
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Martian Child | | |
| Also known as: | |
82 Reviews total.
Release date: 11/2/2007
Run length: Unknown.
Categories:
Drama
,
Science Fiction/Fantasy
Summary:
A science-fiction writer, wanting to be a dad, adopts a 6-year-old boy who he becomes convinced is an alien from Mars.
Reviews of Martian Child
By
Phil Villarreal
of Arizona Daily Star (7/0)
The whole Ha, ha! Dennis is a young Norman Bates thing gets quite creepy.
By
David Germain
of Associated Press (7/0)
Cusack and Coleman are on screen together most of the movie, and the fact that they don’t complet...
By
Toddy Burton
of Austin Chronicle (7/0)
There are absolutely no surprises as the film disintegrates into its own cutesy display.
By
John P. McCarthy
of Boxoffice Magazine (7/0)
Martian Child has intelligence and a modicum of wit -- if only it had more heart and a kid worth ...
By
Fred Topel
of Can Magazine (7/0)
Cusack could do for parenting movies what he did for romantic comedies. This is a rocky start.
By
Roger Ebert
of Chicago Sun-Times (7/0)
...bland and safe...
Reviews of Martian Child
By
Roger Ebert
of Chicago Sun-Times (7/0)
So bland and safe that it might appeal more directly to children than adults.
By
Geoff Berkshire
of Chicago Tribune (7/0)
The overriding sappiness keeps killing the so-bad-it's-good buzz.
By
Peter T. Chattaway
of Christianity Today (7/0)
The film feels lazily conventional. There are truths to be had here, but much of the film still r...
By
Katey Rich
of CinemaBlend.com (7/0)
A generic version of any other dramatic comedy about familial love.
By
Jette Kernion
of Cinematical (7/0)
Not too dull to sit through without some enjoyment, but forgettable within 24 hours of watching t...
By
Cole Smithey
of ColeSmithey.com (7/0)
John Cusack's favored co-actors (Oliver Platt, Joan Cusack, and Angelica Huston) add color to a s...
Reviews of Martian Child
By
Jeffrey M. Anderson
of Combustible Celluloid (7/0)
Despite the film's laziness and mawkishness, however, Martian Child has some lovely sections.
By
Edward Douglas
of ComingSoon.net (7/0)
The only thing that saves it from being a Lifetime movie is Cusack's ever-present charm and perso...
By
Matt Brunson
of Creative Loafing (7/0)
The credits state that Martian Child stars John Cusack, Amanda Peet and Joan Cusack, but really, ...
By
Brian Orndorf
of DVDTALK.COM (7/0)
It's a well-intended psychological drama, but Meyjes is too afraid to permit the film any darknes...
By
Dezhda Mountz
of E! Online (7/0)
John Cusack manages to deliver plenty of warm fuzzies...
By
Emanuel Levy
of EmanuelLevy.Com (7/0)
Harmless and schmaltzy, this dramedy about the bond between a lonely widower and a misfit son dra...
Reviews of Martian Child
By
Gregory Kirschling
of Entertainment Weekly (7/0)
...inadvertently turns you against the overindulgent parenting culture.
By
Eric D. Snider
of EricDSnider.com (7/0)
It's sweet and lovely and honest, and it made me laugh and cry, and John Cusack and the little bo...
By
Eugene Novikov
of Film Blather (7/0)
Part of the reason it works is that the film at least tries to make the Kid something other than ...
By
Walter Chaw
of Film Freak Central (7/0)
Heartfelt pap.
By
Kevin Carr
of Film School Rejects (7/0)
if you like these emotionally-brittle family dramas, you'll eat this film up. But for a confirmed...
By
Sean O'Connell
of filmcritic.com (7/0)
the fairly predictable cornball fluff we anticipate when off-center loners find a middle ground.
Reviews of Martian Child
By
Telly Davidson
of FilmStew.com (7/0)
A faithful adaptation would almost surely have necessitated that the focus be changed from a fath...
By
MaryAnn Johanson
of Flick Filosopher (7/0)
This is, wonderfully, a smart and snappy -- never sappy -- portrait of a budding parent-and-kid r...
By
Bill Clark
of FromTheBalcony (7/0)
It's a largely dreary time at the movies and offers next to nothing for the kids that it's advert...
By
Sheri Linden
of Hollywood Reporter (7/0)
...an engagingly weird and vulnerable mood prevails.
By
Kit Bowen
of Hollywood.com (7/0)
In this abandoned-kid-who-thinks-he’s-an-alien mush-fest, Martian Child doesn’t offer much beyond...
By
Steve Rhodes
of Internet Reviews (7/0)
... features a mesmerizing kid actor. But, as good as his acting is, it's just a one-note perform...
Reviews of Martian Child
By
Kevin Williamson
of Jam! Movies (7/0)
Lurches between sappiness and self-consciousness -- resulting in a movie which, for all its charm...
By
Bob Bloom
of Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN) (7/0)
No one in the movie speaks like a real person. Even the youngest cast member talks as if footligh...
By
Matt Kelemen
of Las Vegas CityLife (7/0)
Martian Child would be a Lifetime Movie of the Week without the Cusacks
By
Prairie Miller
of Long Island Press (7/0)
John Cusack gets seriously spaced out, in this cross between A Beautiful Mind and ET.
By
Evan Henerson
of Los Angeles Daily News (7/0)
You might expect a serious-minded movie about a troubled kid who really thinks he's from Mars to ...
By
Pete Hammond
of Maxim (7/0)
John Cusack is perfect but it's Bobby Coleman who delivers one of the most uniquely original kid ...
Reviews of Martian Child
By
Matt Pais
of Metromix.com (7/0)
It's a minor but affectionate flick that knows sometimes all kids seem like they're from Mars, an...
By
Mary-Liz Shaw
of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (7/0)
John Cusack, Coleman and the rest of the talented crew on screen reach moments of authenticity th...
By
Colin Covert
of Minneapolis Star Tribune (7/0)
A film so cloying it could have been processed from high-fructose corn syrup.
By
Ken Hanke
of Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) (7/0)
It's rare that a movie has this little flavor. Compared to Martian Child, a jar of Gerber's mashe...
By
Nell Minow
of Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies (7/0)
My heart was ready to be warmed. But it never got above room temperature.
By
Kyle Smith
of New York Post (7/0)
Has enough wit and unpredictability to hold your attention.
Reviews of Martian Child
By
Manohla Dargis
of New York Times (7/0)
...100 percent goo.
By
Frank Swietek
of One Guy's Opinion (7/0)
Hobbled by its ham-fisted effort to strum our heartstrings.
By
Scott Tobias
of Onion AV Club (7/0)
The science-fiction elements are mere window dressing for a story that's most affecting when it's...
By
Jason Ferguson
of Orlando Weekly (7/0)
Director Menno Meyjes pulls an engaging film out of the potential claptrap, while also putting ac...
By
Jeanne Aufmuth
of Palo Alto Weekly (7/0)
John Cusack is the only bright spot in an otherwise sentimentally sloppy drama that telegraphs it...
By
Bill Gibron
of PopMatters (5/2)
Maudlin, mawkish, and slightly misunderstood itself, Martian Child is the perfect example of good...
Reviews of Martian Child
By
Cynthia Fuchs
of PopMatters (7/0)
While David imagines other worlds for profit, Martian Child crash-lands on this one.
By
Aaron Hillis
of Premiere Magazine (7/0)
It's a bit creepy, since [Dennis's] "quirks" are an unaddressed cry for help in this generic tona...
By
Linda Cook
of Quad City Times (Davenport, IA) (7/0)
Sometimes, "The Martian Child" works as a weeper.Other times, you'll just hate yourself for getti...
By
Robin Clifford
of Reeling Reviews (7/0)
A story that has me checking the time, frequently, is telling.
By
James Berardinelli
of ReelViews (7/0)
...an exercise in shameless and inept emotional manipulation.
By
James Berardinelli
of ReelViews (7/0)
Martian Child wants to make us cry. It nearly made me gag. This is an exercise in shameless and i...
Reviews of Martian Child
By
Jim Lane
of Sacramento News & Review (7/0)
...a betrayal of the book...
By
Stephanie Zacharek
of Salon.com (7/0)
Before long, the story's conceit -- a loud-and-clear metaphor for the ways in which we all someti...
By
Mick LaSalle
of San Francisco Chronicle (7/0)
...overlong and dull.
By
Sean Axmaker
of Seattle Post-Intelligencer (7/0)
John Cusack radiates compassion and affection...
By
Nick Schager
of Slant Magazine (7/0)
The primary obstacle to enjoying any moment of Martian Child is Dennis, a little creature whose h...
By
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
of Spirituality and Practice (7/0)
A comedy masterwork that touches the heart with its portrait of the survival tactics of an abando...
Reviews of Martian Child
By
Dustin Putman
of TheMovieBoy.com (7/0)
Heartfelt, but uninspired, the film follows a plodding, predictable path that does not deviate fo...
By
Frank Ochieng
of TheWorldJournal.com (7/0)
Unfortunately for Martian Child this has more maple sap pouring out of it than a neglected Vermon...
By
David Fear
of Time Out New York (5/2)
Menno Meyjes handles this Nick Hornby–esque story like a special Oprah episode. Throw in some mut...
By
Ken Fox
of TV Guide's Movie Guide (7/0)
Poorly adapted from David Gerrold's acclaimed autobiographical novel, this sappy comedy-drama abo...
By
Ronnie Scheib
of Variety (7/0)
Knockout performances by John Cusack and child actor Bobby Coleman help legitimize a whimsical bu...
By
Robert Wilonsky
of Village Voice (7/0)
Martian Child certainly isn't much fun, unless you were desperately awaiting K-PAX with a kid ins...
Reviews of Martian Child
By
Willie Waffle
of WaffleMovies.com (7/0)
Everything you expect it to be, then it goes on for another 20 minutes.
By
Desson Thomson
of Washington Post (7/0)
Martian Child feels artificially sweetened rather than genuinely moving.
By
Randy Cordova
of Arizona Republic (3/4) No reference
It either is stiff and dry or it piles on the schmaltz in absurd amounts. In that sense, it offer...
By
J. R. Jones
of Chicago Reader (3/4) No reference
Cusack carries this unabashed tearjerker.
By
Tasha Robinson
of Chicago Tribune (3/4) No reference
...goes awry...
By
Jeff Vice
of Deseret News, Salt Lake City (3/4) No reference
Unfortunately, the second half of the movie gets pretty messy, and the sudden tonal shifts (thing...
Reviews of Martian Child
By
Robert W. Butler
of Kansas City Star (3/4) No reference
Heavy-handed sentimentality.
By
Carina Chocano
of Los Angeles Times (3/4) No reference
Martian Child would like to be About a Boy (Who Thinks He's a Martian), but, disappointingly, it ...
By
Connie Ogle
of Miami Herald (3/4) No reference
What if Lloyd Dobler grew up, gave up kickboxing for writing books about space battles and adopte...
By
Michael Elliott
of Movie Parables (3/4) No reference
The humor, pathos, drama, and emotional payoff [of the film] are solely due to the investment [Cu...
By
Manohla Dargis
of New York Times (3/4) No reference
100 percent goo.
By
Steven Boone
of Newark Star-Ledger (3/4) No reference
There is something disingenuous and calculating about the work of his director and composer.
Reviews of Martian Child
By
Gene Seymour
of Newsday (3/4) No reference
Cusack and Coleman make this whimsical trip worthwhile.
By
Lawrence Toppman
of Charlotte Observer (3/4) Not Reachable
Child resolves in a way that's touching, however schmaltzy.
By
Harvey S. Karten
of Compuserve (3/4) Not Reachable
The title character is far from lovable, but John Cusack's charm is irresistible
By
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
of St. Paul Pioneer Press (3/4) Not Reachable
The quirky allure of Joan Cusack can offset a lot of sentiment in a movie, but even she drowns in...
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