Caffeinated Clint
Great date movie. Bring some tissue.
John Cusack, Joan Cusack, Bobby Coleman, Amanda Peet.
OK, I’m a sucker for this kind of movie. Sure some of the moments may require some hefty suspensions of disbelief. Sure you get moments of artistic license based on a real story. But hey – you go to the movies to get an artist’s perspective of real life. If you want a real life perspective on real life, save your money and people watch at the bus station.
A beautifully told story with John Cusack at his typical charming, quirky, everyman best. Cusack plays David, a science fiction novelist who is emotionally distraught over the death of his fiancée. One would assume this is David Gerrold – the author of the novel “Martian Child”, but I digress. He decides after years of mourning in solitude that he is going to bring love back into his life – by adopting a troubled six year old boy named Dennis (Bobby Coleman). Less like a father/son tale, these two troubled souls find themselves in this unusual love story about two human beings trying to heal and find wholeness again.
Director Menno Meyjes directed Cusack in the 2002 arthouse sleeper ”Max”, about Max Rothman and his student, Adolf Hitler. Though the project didn’t make a big splash commercially, it was a critically acclaimed film and apparently a good enough experience for them to team up again for ”Martian Child.” Meyjes finds wonderful, endearing, and painful moments in how awkward (and funny) guys can be when they try to deal with emotions bigger than they are. He sets a delicious tone that is at once elegant, respectful, and irreverent.
Great date movie. Bring some tissue.
Rating : 
Reviewer : J. Anthony Lucas
