I just recently seen this movie a few weeks ago and after looking it up late ron IMDB.com I found taht though it has a very good rating their is a huge split between viewers. On one side you have people who loved it and on the other people who hate it because of some reasons concerning its plot and title were in some words "missleading". This movie in my opinion is fantastic. Alot of people who don't like it hold that feeling not because the movie was bad but because the Child who claimed to be from Mars and in the movie did Change lights with his mind, could taste colour and ect... turned out to not be confirmed a Martain but rather a normal earth child with social and/or mental issues. The movie is based on a novelette from the 1990s? A novel version was published in 2002. There are differences between the film and the writing, mainly that the Child in the writings never really thought he was from Mars it was just a game he played with he father. And also in the writings the Father was homosexual. Movie Plot: David Gordon (John Cusack), a popular Science Fiction author, lost his wife Mary when they were trying to adopt a child. Two years later, David is finally matched with a young boy named Dennis (Bobby Coleman). 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 (Amanda Peet) and sister Liz (played by Cusack's real life sister Joan), David and Dennis begin an arduous process of learning about each other, from Dennis' 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," both earn each others' trust and eventually, they find someone who loves them unequivocally. So does anyone else have an opinion on this movie?
no problem. Its a great movie as long as you dont go in blind and dead set that its going to be a sci-fi movie and that this child is from Mars.
Nope. Not alone. I rented it several months ago and watched it with my kids. We all liked it quite a bit. It's...sweet, for lack of a better word. I don't normally go for this type of film, but I like John Cusack and the trailer looked interesting. Also, it's one of the few non-sci-fi films I've seen where people involved in science fiction aren't portrayed as socially-inept geeks to be mocked. My kids liked the movie enough that they asked me to buy a copy. We now have it at home, and they'll occasionally throw it in the DVD player on car trips.
I saw it a few weeks ago. I didn't really like it. It was too sappy at times. I actually didn't expect it to be a scifi movie (I don't really like scifi stuff usually...shh don't tell anyone), but I still didn't like it's style. It was just sort of...boring. One of those movies that is easily forgettable because it didn't move me or excite me in any way. I wouldn't say I hated it though. There was a problem with the way they shifted back and forth between the idea of him being a real Martian and just a human boy. While watching it, you were never really sure where they were trying to go with the story. And I mean that in the bad way, because sometimes that can be a good technique. But in this case it just made the film feel drawn out and muddled and like it didn't have a clear focus. Basically, I was fine with the outcome, but thought that the way they arrived there was a little too messy.
Given that this is a Star Trek board, I'm surprised that no one here has mentioned that the novel on which this film is based was a semi-autobiographical novel written by "Trouble With Tribbles" author David Gerrold.
I think a lot of folks write Gerrold off as just being the "Tribbles Guy" and don't realize how much other stuff he's done. Just saw the movie a couple weeks back. It was okay. Liked the novel better.
Agreed. His time-travel novel The Man Who Folded Himself is an underrated classic, and I understand that his multi-volume The War Against The Chtorr (sp?) is very good as well.