There are certain actors among my sisters and I who have gained our loyalty, and no matter how far from the graces of popular culture they fall, we will still pay to see them do their thing on the big screen. You probably have yours, too. Our short list includes Oliver Platt, Don Cheadle, Keifer Sutherland (yep, we loved him before he was Bauer-boy), John Cusack, William H. Macy, and Kevin Spacey. (Let me just say that Tom Cruise has NEVER appeared on our list.)

Given loyalties, my expectations reached remarkable heights as I sat down with popcorn, soda, and Sno-Caps in hand to see not only John Cusack and Oliver Platt, but also Oscar and Emmy winners Anjelica Huston, Joan Cusack, Amanda Peet, Richard Schiff, and Howard Hessman do their thing in Martian Child.

John Cusack plays David, an incredibly successful science fiction author who still clings to the grief over losing his wife, mixed with the residual scars from his own childhood geekdom having suffered at the hands of cruel school children.

The story opens with a note of melancholy as David and his late wife's best friend, Harley (Amanda Peet), meet at the cemetery for their annual commemoration of her death. It is here that we discover he is thinking of adopting a child, but isn't sure how ready he is for such a big step. "I'm not so sure about the wisdom of bringing another child into this world," David says, "But how do you get around the logic of loving one that's already here?" Unfortunately, that is as deep as this movie gets -- philosophically, psychologically, or emotionally.

David discusses the ins and outs of parenting with his sister (played with characteristic quirkiness by John's real-life sister, Joan Cusack). Her take on parenting could have been funnier and more genuine, but was instead droll and pedantic -- again, a missed opportunity for depth and authentic investment. Despite her warnings, David decides to adopt this strange little boy, who spends all of his daytime hours hiding inside a cardboard box with a peephole carved into the side.

The little boy, Dennis (Bobby Coleman), honestly believes he is from Mars and is trying to get back there to his own people. Coleman plays this role with finesses and an endearing precociousness. Director Menno Meyjes and screenwriters Seth E. Bass and Jonathan Tolins try very hard to keep us in suspense as to whether or not he really is an alien or just a very psychologically wounded little boy. In time, David draws the boy out of the box (literally and metaphorically) and into his life. Ultimately, he decides that his work as a science fiction writer makes him the right person to save this child. But will adoption and social services bureaucrats agree?

Martian Child is based on David Gerrold's Hugo- and Nebula-award-winning novel, but lacks the tender relationships that made the book so special. In fact, this movie was shot over two years ago, re-shot by a new director (Jerry Zucker of Ghost fame), to work out the kinks, and then held until now for release. Red flags abound.

Unfortunately, the plot stumbles into predictability; there just isn't a genuine bone in this skeleton of a story anywhere. The emotional ups and downs you would expect from a film about a child with a wounded psyche never develop, and that emotional chemistry between David and Dennis that the story cries out for just never gels. It's all quite vanilla, lacking the depth that the cast is more than capable of delivering on. A few genuine comedic moments keep the pace from completely bottoming out, but it falls short on so many levels.

Martian Child is a benign and sometimes endearing movie. But it's hard to escape the sense of disappointment of a lackluster screenplay that leaves a gifted cast without the opportunity to elevate this into a compelling film. Ultimately, this is K-PAX, but without the quirky unpredictability of Kevin Spacey. In spite of the game effort by the cast, but the drama is as invisible as the little boy's spaceship. Oh, what could have been!

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