K-PAX (2001)

Starring: Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges, Mary McCormack
Director: Iain Softley

Rating: PG-13

Studio: Universal

Review Posted: 10.30.01

Spoilers: Minor

By Greg Malmborg.

Sometimes the sole reason to go out and see a movie is because of an actor or actress’s performance in it. The performance is so outstanding that it carries a basically weak movie. Take the performance out and the movie cannot stand up on its own. This is the case with K-PAX.

Kevin Spacey beautifully plays Prot, a strange and interesting man who is placed in a psychiatric ward due to his insistence that he was beamed to Earth from the planet K-PAX. Psychiatrist Dr. Mark Powell (Jeff Bridges) is assigned to Prot and is as skeptical as most people would be about Prot’s claim. Dr. Powell slowly begins to realize that Prot could be telling him the truth. Prot knows things about astronomy that no average human being could possibly know and he has an unexplainable irritation to UV rays from sunlight. Also, medications seem to have no effect on him. As much as he questions himself, Dr. Powell still believes there is something else, something painful and human, underneath all of this that has caused Prot to believe he is from K-PAX.

The other thing, and the main storyline, is the effect Prot has on the other patients. He does more to help them in just a few weeks than the doctors have in years. The patients follow him around as though he was a saint and they are each trying to become his chosen one. The one who will accompany him back to K-PAX when he leaves Earth.

Another part of the story deals with Prot actually helping Dr. Powell heal and reconnect with his own family, who he has ignored and mistreated lately.

The psychiatric ward backdrop has been used in countless movies, giving K-PAX an unoriginal and tired feel. Also, "the doctor helping the patient and the patient, in turn, actually helping the doctor rediscover life" plot device has also been used in many other films.  Even the parts dealing with the question of whether Prot is an alien or not are dull and uninteresting because they have such a "been-there-done-that" feel to them.

But K-PAX is far from dull or uninteresting, and there is one reason for it: Kevin Spacey. Spacey gives such a riveting and intense performance that he keeps us interested in the story and, most importantly, makes us care. There are moments in the movie that feel genuinely heartwarming (and, at times, heartbreaking) due to this great performance. The movie is worth seeing just for him.

Jeff Bridges is also good (as always) as Dr. Powell even though he is basically just playing the "straight" man to Spacey’s Prot. Mary McCormack is strong as Powell’s ignored wife and the supporting cast of psychiatric patients are also good in their limited roles. The acting in K-PAX is first rate all around; it is too bad the story couldn’t back them up more.

K-PAX is not a great movie; it is unoriginal at the core and has some spots where it feels dull and drags. But Kevin Spacey lifts it above the pack with his wonderful, emotional performance.

Film Rating: 2.5 out of 4

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