David Gordon, a popular science fiction author, widowed two years prior as they were trying to adopt a child, is finally matched with a young boy, Dennis. Initially hesitant to adopt alone, he is drawn to Dennis because he sees aspects of himself and his own awkward childhood in the boy. Dennis suffers from the delusion that he is from Mars. He protects himself from the sun's harmful rays, wears weights to counter Earth's weak gravity, eats only Lucky Charms, and hangs upside down to facilitate his circulation. He refers often to his mission to understand Earth and its people, taking pictures, stealing things to catalog, and spending time consulting an ambiguous toy-like device with flashing lights that produces seemingly unintelligible words. Once David decides to adopt Dennis, he spends time getting to know the boy, patiently coaxing him out of the large cardboard box he hides in. Soon, David is cleared to take Dennis home and they meet David's dog, "Somewhere." In Dennis's bedroom is a projector of the solar system that he pronounces inaccurate. With the help of David's friend Harlee and sister Liz, David tries to help Dennis overcome his delusion by both indulging it and encouraging him to act like everyone else. Dennis attends school but is quickly expelled for repeatedly stealing items for his collection. Frustrated, David tells Liz that perhaps Dennis is from Mars. Meanwhile, David's literary agent, Jeff, encourages David to finish writing his sequel book, already commissioned, which is due soon. David struggles to make time for writing but is regularly pulled away from his to deal with Dennis. While sitting down to write, a flash from Dennis's Polaroid camera catches him off-guard and he accidentally breaks some glass. David picks Dennis up and carries him across the room. Dennis, upset by David's abrupt action, fears he is going to be sent away. David explains that he was just worried he'd get cut by the glass and that he loves Dennis more than his material possessions. Assuring him that he will never send him away, he encourages Dennis to break more things. They move to the kitchen and break dishes and then spray ketchup and dish detergent at each other. Lefkowitz, the decision-maker from Social Services, appears in the window and discovers the mayhem. He rebukes David and sets up a case review. David encourages Dennis to be from Mars only at home; though he must to be from Earth everywhere else. Dennis passes his interview by saying he was pretending and continues in David's care. Later, David, now Dennis's adopted father, tries to insist that Dennis acknowledge being from Earth, to which Dennis responds with hurt and anger. David leaves Dennis with Liz to attend the reveal of his new book, which is supposed to be the sequel to his first book. David confesses to Tina, the publisher, that he has not written a sequel, but rather a new book titled, Martian Child, about Dennis. In her fury, Tina makes a scene at the party, but takes the manuscript as David leaves to be with Dennis. Meanwhile, Dennis has walked away from the house, together with his suitcase of earthly artifacts. When David arrives and finds the police at the house and learns the boy is gone, he remembers the place Dennis had identified as where he was found. David asks Harlee to drive him to the location, where they spot Dennis high up on the outside ledge of the museum's domed roof. David climbs up to where Dennis is as the police and Liz arrive. Dennis identifies a bright searchlight in a nearby cloud as someone coming to take him home, but David tries to assure him that it's just a helicopter. David pledges his love for Dennis and assures him that he will never ever leave him. Eventually Dennis gives in to trusting David and the two embrace. David's voiceover tells about the parallel of children who come into our world, struggling to understand it, being like little aliens. As Tina reads the manuscript aboard an airplane, she begins to cry.
Despite persistent misperceptions, this film is not based on David Gerrold's semi-autobiographical novelette The Martian Child, but rather is based on his fictional Hugo and Nebula Award-winning short story of the same name, which has caused much confusion about the source material, especially for Gerrold's fans in segments of the gay community. The short story does not reveal the fictionalized protagonist's homosexuality. Only when, years later, Gerrold rewrote and expanded his story to novella length did he choose to reveal his sexuality. While Gerrold had, in real life, adopted a son as an openly gay man, in the film the protagonist is straight and has a female love interest. Though Gerrold has acknowledged that his short story is a work of fiction, and despite the fact that the short story won numerous awards as a work of fiction, some members of gay community persisted in perpetuating the misperception that the short story was "true" and criticized the lead role in the film being portrayed as straight.
Release
Box office
Martian Child opened in 2,020 venues on November 2, 2007 and earned $3,376,669 in its first weekend, ranking seventh in the domestic box office and third among the weekend's new releases. The film closed six weeks later on December 13, having grossed $7,500,310 domestically and $1,851,434 overseas, totaling $9,351,744 worldwide. Based on its estimated $27 million budget, the film was a box office bomb.
Critical reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 33% score, based on 106 reviews, with an average rating of 5/10. The site's consensus states: "Despite some charms, overt emotional manipulation and an inconsistent tone prevents Martian Child from being the heartfelt dramedy it aspires to be." Metacritic reports a 48 out of 100 rating, based on 26 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Home media
Martian Child was released on DVD on February 12, 2008. It opened at #20 the DVD sales chart, selling 69,000 units for revenue of $1.3 million. As per the latest figures, 400,000 DVD units have been sold, acquiring revenue of $7,613,945. This does not include DVD rentals/Blu-ray sales. The film is available on Netflix streaming.
