Martian Child
| Martian Child | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Menno Meyjes |
| Produced by | |
| Screenplay by | David Gerrold |
| Based on |
The Martian Child by David Gerrold |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Aaron Zigman |
| Cinematography | Robert D. Yeoman |
| Edited by | Bruce Green |
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Production
company |
Flower Films
MERADIN Zweite Productions |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
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Release date
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Running time
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106 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $27 million |
| Box office | $9.4 million |
Martian Child is a 2007 American comedy-drama film directed by Menno Meyjes and written by David Gerrold based on his 1994 novelette of the same name. The film stars John Cusack as a writer who adopts a strange young boy (Bobby Coleman) who believes himself to be from Mars. The film was theatrically released on November 2, 2007 by New Line Cinema.
David Gordon, a popular science fiction author, was widowed when his wife Mary died as they were trying to adopt a child. Two years later, David is finally matched with a young boy named Dennis. Socially awkward, Dennis believes he is from Mars and only goes outdoors when under the cover of a large box to block out the sun's harmful rays. Although initially hesitant to adopt a boy by himself, David recognizes a part of him in Dennis and slowly coaxes him out of the box and into his home.
With the help of David's friend Harlee and sister Liz, David and Dennis begin an arduous process of learning about each other, from Dennis's incessant photo-taking habits, his inclination to eat only Lucky Charms, and his perpetual stealing, to David's continuing love of his wife, his love of baseball and his own struggles to be accepted by others.
As David teaches Dennis how to be an "Earthling", father and son earn each other's trust and eventually find someone who will love them unequivocally.
Despite persistent misperceptions, this film is not based on David Gerrold's semi-autobiographical novelette The Martian Child, but rather is based on his Hugo and Nebula Award-winning short story of the same name, which has caused much confusion about the source material, especially for Gerrold's fans in segments of the gay community. The short story does not reveal the fictionalized protagonist's homosexuality. Only when, years later, Gerrold rewrote and expanded his story to novella length did he choose to reveal his sexuality. While Gerrold had, in real life, adopted a son as an openly gay man, in the film the protagonist is straight and has a female love interest. Though Gerrold has acknowledged not mentioning the fictionalized protagonist's sexuality in his short story, and despite the fact that the short story won awards as a work of fiction, numerous members of the gay community criticized the film because the protagonist wasn't changed to gay, and even though the novella is not the source on which the film is based.
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