Recently, New Line Cinema released the DVD Martian Child, starring John Cusack, Bobby Coleman, Amanda Peet, and Joan Cusack. The theatrical release unfortunately occurred on the same weekend as another wonderful movie, American Gangsters, which drove down the audience for Martian Child.

I have to say, I was impressed by the initial trailers for this film. The montage of scenes from the movie was set against the backdrop of “Mr. Blue Sky,” recorded by one of my favorite all time bands, Electric Light Orchestra. That alone impressed me enough to want to see the movie, and though I don’t know why, I never did see it in theaters. In fact, I did several things backwards with this movie. I even interviewed child-star and co-actor Bobby Coleman prior to seeing the movie. In many ways, that was a good thing. It gave me insight into Bobby and helped drive home the abilities of this young man (who was only 7-years-old at the time of filming).

One thing about a movie that depends on the ability and talent of a child is that if all things (including, script, chemistry between actors, the ability of the director to work with the child, and a multitude of other things) don’t work together, then the whole movie just won’t work. This is especially true of a movie that is theme- and drama-driven as opposed to comedy-driven. While Martian Child has its moments of comedy, make no mistake about it: there are serious themes addressed, full-force and head-on.

The chemistry and work between John Cusack and Bobby Coleman is, in short, wonderful and real. It is in part due to the way the movie was filmed—in the order of the story. Cusack and Coleman agreed that they wouldn’t spend much time together during the initial part of the filming, so their relationship developed naturally as they continued filming. For a movie that deals with subject matter as serious as single-parent adoption, this was crucial. As the two actors were confused by such things as age, personality and so forth, they began to develop the relationship, learning to love each other on and off the screen by the completion of the film. In this film, life imitates the art. The relationship and ability to love not only occurs in real life, but it happens in part because it occurs on screen.

To be blunt, I greatly admire the abilities of John Cusack, one of my favorite versatile actors in Hollywood today. That said, the pairing of Cusack and Coleman may be one of the best pairings in all of 2007. That says something not just about the ability of Cusack, it says myriads about the ability of young actor, Bobby Coleman. While children are often backdrops in a movie and there for nothing more than comedic moments, Coleman is a legitimate, bona fide actor who fills the screen with his ability.

Martian Child starts off with David (John Cusack) dealing with the death of his wife from two years earlier. In the present, he contemplates the adoption of a small boy. This is not just any boy, but a child known as a “special needs child.” It is while visiting a child agency that David meets Dennis (Bobby Coleman). Dennis spends most of his time in a box, is considered weird; and the kicker is, he thinks he is from Mars. Since David is a science-fiction writer who writes about fantasy and space, the agency’s childcare worker, Sophie (Sophie Okonedo), thinks a boy who believes he is from Mars may be a good match for David. Dennis appeals to David, who had his own similar issues growing up.

Continue: 1 2 3