Martian Child stars John Cusack as David Gordon, a popular science fiction writer. Seemingly on a whim he adopts young Dennis, a troubled youngster who spends much of his time in a box, combating the effects of the sun and attempting to keep from floating away. Oh yes, Dennis also claims to be from Mars; he has come to this planet on a mission to learn about human beings.

That is the setup for this slightly sappy and underwritten drama that seeks to show how teaching lessons is a two-way street, a street that would lead David and Dennis to a better understanding of what it means to be human. Well, that or Dennis suffered a little too much sun exposure while watching E.T.

I really wanted to like Martian Child and on some level I do like it. The problem is that the script never digs much beyond the surface. Yes, there is a lot that could be inferred by what is on the screen; I do not mean to say that everything should be spelled out for the viewer. If you watch the movie, see if there is anything in the screenplay that makes any serious attempt at dealing with the issues at hand. It seems like the story is content to sit back and let the obvious warm your heart. If it can make you misty at all it has done its job and it need not work any harder. The core story has so much potential, yet the end result does not explore beyond some modest aspirations of imparting the difficult/rewarding aspect of parenting.

The movie opens with a flashback narration to David's (Cusack) childhood. He was the picked on outsider, the lonely kid with an active imagination. He used that imagination to escape into a fantasy world. He took this escape and focused it back on the real world and onto the blank page, feeding his writing career. So when he meets Dennis when considering adoption, he sees a lot of himself in this child. David wins the boy's trust by offering sunglasses and sunblock, humoring the child's fantasy world. Before long, David has brought Dennis home and is supplying him with his desire for Lucky Charms, humoring his Martian heritage, and tolerating his kleptomania.

Martian Child poses much of interest. At the top of the interest list is the use of unconventional parenting techniques that David employs in his attempt to bring Dennis down to earth. The two are very similar, something that David recognizes as the key to helping him. Despite all of Dennis' apparent issues, David has some of his own. He is dealing with an agent as his latest novel is being turned into a movie and the creative compromise that goes into that process. Not only that, he is a recent widower who may have some feelings for his dead wife's sister (Amanda Peet). Not to be left out is David's sister (played by John's real life sister, Joan Cusack) who is always ready to impart some parenting advice.