Martian Child
New Line Cinema | Release Date: November 2, 2007 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
48
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
13
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
An occasionally schmaltzy but likable story of healing and redemption. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
And in the end, maybe the question of Dennis' origin is irrelevant. He tells David he's come to Earth to try to understand human beings, and that quest is worth a lifetime's effort -- whatever planet you call home. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Cusack, of course, is the perfect Anti-Schmaltz. His rapid-fire delivery makes everything he says sound like it's just pouring from his brain to his mouth, so that even the sappiest dialogue is rendered sincere. Read full review
70
VarietyRonnie Scheib
Knockout performances by John Cusack and child actor Bobby Coleman help legitimize a whimsical but sententiously moralizing script. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterSheri Linden
Those who stick with Martian Child won't entirely avoid mush, but they will find terrific performances. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Amanda Peet exudes her patented mix of charm, beauty, humor and smarts as the best friend who may become more than a friend. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneTasha Robinson
The film plot about the needy kid who redeems a male loner has been done to death, and on the surface, Martian Child just looks like another entry in the genre, a close follower to “About A Boy.” Read full review
63
New York PostKyle Smith
Cusack shows that he can still play the sensitive-but-fun guy until the ladies sigh and the men take notes. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
One soggy slab of sentimental uplift, but it doesn't pretend to be anything else, and there's some honor in that. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyGregory Kirschling
The problem with Martian Child is that it wants to be a story about outcasts, but Dennis doesn't come off as a cute little rebel. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
It's hard to say what, aside from novelty, is gained by having the boy believe he's from Mars, because the core emotion in the film comes from the simple, common premise of an adoptive father and son trying to forge a life together. Read full review
50
Village VoiceRobert Wilonsky
Martian Child certainly isn't much fun, unless you were desperately awaiting K-PAX with a kid instead of Kevin Spacey. Read full review
50
Washington PostDesson Thomson
In drama, and just about everything else, almost is never enough. Which is why Martian Child, about the growing bond between an adult and child, never reaches us. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Cusack makes a half-hearted attempt to connect with Coleman, but chemistry is fatally absent and small wonder: Dennis is a unsettlingly strange creature who could well be from another planet. Read full review
50
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Before long, the story's conceit -- a loud-and-clear metaphor for the ways in which we all sometimes feel alien when it comes to human relationships -- just becomes wearying. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
The two characters' pasts are so sketchy here that the drama lacks any serious emotional underpinning. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Whatever glimmers of cleverness Martian Child offers, it all comes to Earth with a thud in the shamelessly manipulative climax. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Martian Child wants to make us cry. It nearly made me gag. This is an exercise in shameless and inept emotional manipulation. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie leaves no heartstring untugged. It even has a beloved old dog, and you know what happens to beloved old dogs in movies like this. Or if you don't, I don't have the heart to tell you. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
The entire cast is fully committed to this squishily sentimental tale, which is especially impressive given that it's the kind of generic dramedy you'll swear you've seen a thousand times before. Read full review
42
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
At the end of Martian Child, we're told the movie is "inspired by actual events." But the movie isn't even fully inspired by David Gerrold's source novel that was inspired by actual events. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleToddy Burton
Only in Hollywood can a movie about alien children be boring. Even if the kid isn’t really an alien (no spoilers), there’s still opportunity galore for the wild and the weird. Read full review
30
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
100 percent goo. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
Martian Child would like to be "About a Boy (Who Thinks He's a Martian)", but, disappointingly, it doesn't even come close. Read full review
25
PremiereAaron Hillis
Filmed in 2005, the first of two Cusack widower flicks this season (the weepier and more indie "Grace is Gone" hits theaters in December) Martian Child is also a Franken-schmaltz monster of cobbled-together Cusack movie parts. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
It's off in many directions - false in its details, false in its relationships, false in its emotions - but probably the first and worst thing that needs to be said about it is that it's also overlong and dull. Read full review
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