Rated PG-13 - Running Time: 1:58 - Released 10/26/01
K-PAX
Rated PG-13 - Running Time: 1:58 - Released 10/26/01
First off, I must say that I feel K-PAX is an unfortunate
title for Iain Softley's alien visitation movie starring Kevin
Spacey and Jeff Bridges, because every time I hear it I can't
help thinking of feminine hygiene products. But I guess the title
is the responsibility of novelist Gene Brewer. That aside, the
film is a thoughtful update of Eliseo Subiela's 1986 film Hombre
Mirando Al Sudeste, or Man Facing Southeast, about
a mental patient who claims he is from another planet and leads
his psychiatrist and most of his fellow patients to believe him.
Brewer's story, adapted by Charles Leavitt, serves as a choice
showcase for the talents of the ever-versatile Spacey, 1999's
best actor Oscar winner (American
Beauty), who gives a performance that could possibly garner
him another nomination. And Bridges turns in an equally powerful
turn as the doctor who learns from his patient. The story has
some trite old movie traditions, but Softley downplays the more
obvious clichés, generally achieving a balance between
wisdom, emotion, and humor.
When Prot (rhymes with "wrote") first appears at
Grand Central Station, he looks just like any average person.
Well, actually, he looks exactly like Kevin Spacey. But then he
makes the age-old mistake we have all made at one time or another.
He says to a police officer, "Wow, I forgot—your planet
is really bright." This statement lands him in the Manhattan
Psychiatric Hospital under the care of Dr. Mark Powell (Bridges),
who at first assumes Prot is simply delusional. But when his new
patient shows signs of not being human (he is unaffected by huge
doses of medicine, shows no emotion except for occasional bemusement
at the human race, and knows things about astronomy that astronomers
are just now discovering), Dr. Powell begins to take him more
seriously. With the infinite patience of superior intelligence,
Prot explains that he is a 337-year-old visitor from the planet
K-PAX, which is located about 1,000 light years away in the constellation
Lyra. K-PAX has 2 suns, 7 purple moons, and a bountiful supply
of truffles.
At the expense of his relationship with his wife Rachel (Mary
McCormack) and children, Mark begins spending more and more time
on Prot's case, trying to find out who this guy is and what happened
to cause him to have these delusions. Meanwhile, Prot's interaction
with his fellow patients causes many of them to make major progress,
eventually turning them into normal, well-adjusted people who
all want to accompany him back home, which he has stated will
be very soon.
While the story of K-PAX is generally uplifting and whimsical (with a few dark overtones), its text is burdened with tired old conventions too obvious for director Softley not to notice. For instance, as in so many doctor-patient movies, the doctor has unresolved psychological/family issues that are suddenly cured by his association with the patient. Furthermore, the residents of the psychiatric hospital are really more like a bunch of funny, eccentric people than actual mental patients; rather than crafting well-developed characters (like the ones seen in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest), Leavitt has simplified them to stereotypes intended merely to further the plot. But the performances of Spacey and Bridges do a lot to counteract the film's weaknesses. Spacey has a nice sense of wonder at all he sees and hears, and if nothing else it's amusing to see him crunching down a banana, peel and all. Moreover, Bridges, an immensely capable actor in a thankless, second-fiddle role, brings humanity and credulity to his character. ****½