Why Only Dumb People Dislike This Movie ...questions answered

(just realized how damn long this thing.. o well maybe it'll at least kill the haters by means of size at least)

I think it's unfortunate that we're in a time that people can't appreciate movies like this anymore.

Everyone wants to negatively critique the movies by questioning every single thing as if it's wrong. I'll start off by answering some frequent questions/problems I've seen about the movie:

*******Why did it seem like he actually had martian powers?
A: It did seem pretty unreal that he was able to predict the baseball hits, taste the M&M's, etc.. First off, that apparently happened in the real story this was based off of, but that's not the point, because the viewers don't know that. The point is that this an abandoned kid, and he's been emotionally damaged by the experience, and being so young his way to deal with it was by taking up the facade of an alien from space. Cusack's character EVEN EXPLAINS THIS in the movie when he's at the first meeting trying to adopt Dennis. That's probably a part of the movie where a lot of you got bored and thought "great it's getting SLOW now..." Directors add scenes in a movie for a reason. Anyways, it adds several interesting twists to the movie as well, and especially helps the audience connect with David, because as a new parent (rushing into it on top of it), he actually starts thinking this might be real, and that parenting couldn't possibly be this hard. So if we had seen obvious flaws in Dennis being a "martian," that aspect of the movie would have been nonexistent, and we wouldn't have been able to understand David's position as well. It also sets us up for Dennis's breakthrough, because the martian fantasy was his barrier from any more emotional connections.

*******Too sappy/sentimental/warm & fuzzy/whatever the hell else you thought up to garner some masculinity
A: I honestly look back to the days when Disney films dominated because they captured people's hearts and taught serious, valuable moral lessons. Those movies are classics now. Look at this movie's premise: abandoned child adopted by a widower.. don't critique it expecting a freaking comedy or action thriller. The OBJECT of the movie is to make the audience emotional, and understand the situation David is in, and the situation the boy is in. And the best part about it is that it's NOT the corny & cheesy crap you usually get these days, the kind directors/writers try to squeeze in just to be able to say that what they made is actually a movie.

(For example, one of my favorite scenes was when they were outside after leaving the Christmas party. David's back is to Dennis, and when Dennis goes to grab David's hand, David puts his hand in his pocket. This subtly and UNIQUELY shows how David is having trouble connecting with the kid and suffers himself, and how Dennis feels that he may never be able to emotionally reach out to someone anymore (denied his real parents, denied the hand, you see?).)

And it still had some humor as well. GENUINE -- not the gross/sex/drug humor or dumb punchlines. Not only was Joan Cusack's character a pleasant humorous beacon in the film, but many of the kid's actions and responses were really funny. If you took a lot of what he did seriously because you wanted him to actually be a *beep* martian, then you really qualify as one of the "dumb" people I'm talking about in the title. But really: giving David the martian wish, doing the strange dance and having David join in, getting attacked by the dog when he seems so vulnerable coming into the big new house... that is GENUINE and unique humor. This sort of leads me to the next but minor question...

*******What the heck was the kid saying?
A: He's not social with anyone, so obviously he doesn't talk much to start off. Plus, Cusack repeats most, if not all, of the seemingly inaudible/distorted things Dennis says. He's a little kid saying weird words, they shouldn't always come out right... another minor one next..

*******Why was Dennis wicked pale? Lipstick much?
A: Well obviously he wasn't in the sun a lot.. they really really emphasized that, probably hoping to get through some thick skulls. Also, it's a filming technique, it helps the kid stand out as the "martian kid who can't fit in." I think I even noticed that he seemed a bit less pale as he developed his connection with David.

*******In the real story the writer was gay, in the movie he's a straight widow.
A: It wouldn't appeal as much. Come on think about it.. if Cusack's character was gay it would've distorted the appearance of the movie due to controversy, it just wouldn't come off as a family movie that well.

*******Why did the kid run away? And possess him to actually go up there on the planet thing?
A: His last encounter with David was obviously a tense one and seriously upset him. He didn't know what to do, but he had to act out... and the only place he could of to run to was where he was abandoned.

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Alright no more of that.. my personal reception of the film was obviously positive, but not amazing.. I'd give 4/5. The acting was freakin' superb. I'll surely admit being a little biased since I like John Cusack, but he really did well portraying the emotions and ideas of a widowing father dealing with a problem child. It was a very likable performance, especially with the witty humor and responses to the strangeness of his adopted kid. As for him, I think Coleman did excellent as well, especially for the standards of a kid his age. He really made it seem like he was from mars, but not to the point where we're thinking "okay that's *beep* annoying", or the usual over-the-top acting (overacting) that kids tend to do. His emotional bursts, such as when he stole things or stood on the mars building, were very reasonable, and touching as they were aimed to be. I think he's already showed that he can handle the big leagues if he wants to. If you watch the DVD extras, you'll see that he is the exact opposite of Dennis's personality/behavior, so he's really showing some talent.

Alright I won't go on with any more positives, I'll explain my cons that bring my rating to 4 instead of 5... For one, I think David start loving the boy a bit too much a bit too early. It seems that he's barely getting to know the kid when he starts professing some serious love. I guess it could have been a bit reasonable since he was a guy looking for family love at an awkward stage, but it just seemed too fast. Another thing was the ending.. it was great, but god, I feel like I've seen a thousand standing on the rooftop scenes, where someone goes out to stand out there with them in fear, and talks them out of it. I guess there's isn't many ways you can do it, and there was the unique twist of it not actually being a suicide, he wanted to get picked up by martians... but still, it just stabbed "cliche" into me. And one thing that really bugged me: the scene where Dennis is interrogated by the multitude of child services people. COME ON, like they would do that -- stick a child in a conference room surrounded by THAT MANY people. It was just too unrealistic for me.

But you know what, I'm going to make my rating a 5/5 with a special finger raised for everyone who wanted to degrade this movie because they're too immature to understand or appreciate it. I guess I'm also just upset that it didn't receive well at all in the box office, because it just discourages the creation of more movies like this. I really hope it gets some oscar nods, particularly in the acting department.

P.S. I'm not one of those middle-aged women that adores these kinds of films... I'm an 18-yr-old STRAIGHT guy that likes movies, it ain't biased.. I just really wanted to give this gem of a movie some deserved credit.