K-PAX Review
by Eugene Novikov (lordeugene_98 AT yahoo DOT com)November 27th, 2001
K-Pax (2001)
Reviewed by Eugene Novikov
http://www.ultimate-movie.com/
"Your produce alone was worth the trip."
Starring Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges, Mary McKormack, Alfre Woodard. Directed by the Iain Softley. Rated
PG-13.
K-Pax is a bizarre mix of pandering crowd-pleaser and subtly intelligent supernatural mystery, and its two faces are constantly engaged in a brutal brawl for screentime. Fortunately, both sides have their virtues, and the movie is interesting even when it isn't quite working. And I guess that any movie with Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges above the title will be at least somewhat worthwhile despite the script's not cooperating, and this one also has an intriguing premise to keep our attention. It's not great, and I don't think anyone has any illusions that it is; the fact that it's entertaining, thank God, is not in
question.
Anyone who hears the title K-Pax will immediately suspect that the film in question is in the science fiction genre, but few will think of a movie as, um, down-to-earth as this one. The name refers to the alleged home planet of Prot (Spacey) -- a decidedly alienish name, you'll agree -- a man who is referred to a psychiatrist after claiming to be an extra-terrestrial who traveled to Earth on a beam of light. The doctor, played by Bridges, is eager to make the obvious declaration that "Prot" is a delusional if it wasn't for the pesky matter of intelligence: the patient is fully aware of everything around him, and he is also able to do little things like explain the theory of relativity and chart the exact orbital trajectory of his planet.
Clearly not satisfied with this corker of a storyline -- one that could fill a whole tv series, never mind a movie -- director Iain Softley inserts a One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest-type subplot in which Prot helps his fellow mental institutionees find help and redemption in quirkily unconventional ways. In act 3, things take a turn for the bizarre (and dark) in ways I won't spoil, but I'll say that the tone conveyed by the film's commercials is completely different from the tone of its last 40 minutes.
I don't know if anyone other than Kevin Spacey could have played this role; his rampant, somewhat snobby sarcasm and arid sense of humor fit the character like a beam of light. I'm almost certain that the script was written with him in mind. You have to watch him bite the end of an unpeeled banana to see what I mean. Bridges is his usual solid self, distinguished without stealing any scenes or starting any fireworks. I believe that he will never win an Oscar -- not that he doesn't deserve one -- because he is the most humble actor in Hollywood (I don't know whether this applies off screen or not, but I think it might).
Everyone will talk about the ending. I'm not sure how to describe it to you. It's ambiguous, and I tend to like that, but the ambiguity in this case is unsatisfying. It's not that I wanted to know more or know less, but that I wanted something different. I expect to feel a surge of wonder at the end of movies like this, but when the credits rolled, I was left in an emotional void.
In the end, K-Pax is pure fluff, popcorn entertainment for those who don't get off on high-tech shootouts and silly "love stories." Somehow, that places it above the other specimens in its category. It shouldn't. It is good fluff, though, with a lot of things done right and only a few done wrong.
Grade: B
Up Next: Thirteen Ghosts
©2001 Eugene Novikov
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--Eugene Novikov
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"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion but not his own facts." (Daniel Patrick Moynihan)
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