No aliens, just alienation, in 'Martian Child'

Children are precious and fragile creatures. They get hurt easily and strive to be loved. Science proves that babies need love to survive. A young child can survive without love or attachment, but the absence of a parent can lead to emotional stress and isolation. Martian Child explains this concept of the emotional problems a child faces when he isn't loved.

From novelist David Gerrold's adapted "autobiography" of the same name, the film stars John Cusack as the widowed fantasy novelist who is experiencing a lack of meaning in his life. In order to solve this problem, David (Cusack) decides to adopt a child. He goes to an orphanage, where he meets Dennis. Dennis is not your typical kid; When David walks outside, all the children at the house are playing while Dennis is literally living in a cardboard box because the sun is too strong on Earth. Dennis thinks he is from Mars.

Of course, the cardboard box he resides in says "fragile, handle with care," which is something David must do. David seems fit for this job; he's a fantasy writer and he has a particular interest in Mars, where his new son thinks he's from. David does what many new adoptive parents try to do: He tries to be Dennis' friend. He tries to love him and give Dennis the security he needs to cope with his abandonment issues. David tells the adoption approval board that Dennis's fantasy of being a Martian is his subconscious mechanism for dealing with his being abandoned by his parents.

As a result, David pretends to believe Dennis is from Mars. He lets him wear his weight belt to keep him on Earth and hand upside to counteract the Earth's strong gravity fields. David plays the role of the "cool dad," teaching Dennis how to play baseball and how to interact with other human beings.

Yet, since Dennis is on Earth to learn about the human race, he has to collect things to take back to his home planet, so he steals. David learns that he can't play this game with his kid anymore: He can't be his friend, he has to be his parent. Either way, David must still give Dennis the love he needs.

Martian Child touches on the human need to fit in and be loved. More poignantly, we see the effect that isolation has on one's emotional development.

And Dennis isn't the only one who feels isolated. David's loss of his wife forces him to seek out the attachment that humans need to feel. David and Dennis need each other to fill the holes in their lives.

Martian Child delves into the need for love rather than how we should treat the ones we already love. As humans, we are essentially born as aliens who know nothing about this planet and are forced to discover how to live and how to survive. This movie takes a step back from this picture and says that in our search for answers, we just need to reach out to those around us.

This movie is PG, so it is definitely intended for a family audience. The movie succeeds in this respect: It's cute, a little funny, and it provides a message that parents can share with their kids. Though this movie is a bit sappy and succumbs to a big Hollywood climax, it's a nice movie to catch if you're with your family and looking for a lighthearted film. B+