TV Reviews : Old-Fashioned Family Fun in ‘Girl From Mars’

A brilliant 13-year-old seems so different to small-minded peers and adults that they call her “Space Cadet” and “Miss Alien Nation,” and sneer that she must be from another planet.

She decides to prove them right in “Girl From Mars,” a touching comedy-drama on cable’s Family Channel at 8 tonight.

DeeDee (Sarah Sawatsky) is the bright girl with an interest in the stars and a genius for electronics. But she’s isolated by ignorant teachers and peers, misunderstandings, a busy, environmentalist dad (Edward Arnold) and the recent loss of her mother.

When she accidentally, and to some supernaturally, disrupts her dad’s town council election rally, she becomes a freakish news story, thanks to a cynical reporter (Gwynyth Walsh).

Will DeeDee prove that she is in fact from another planet? Will her father realize she needs him? Will the lady reporter find she has a heart? Will the mountainous habitat of the snowy owl be bulldozed by land developers?

There’s pathos and comedy in this modest, old-fashioned family film, brought up to date with ecological concerns and modern technology. There’s also a satisfying little otherworldly surprise in the expected happy ending.

Brian Alan Lane wrote the teleplay; Neill Fearnley directed.