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All-Reviews.com Movie/Video Review
K-PAX
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 out of 4
Review by Susan Granger
2 stars out of 4
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Prot (Kevin Spacey) is a curious fellow. Arriving, it would seem, on a beam of
light, he emerges in the midst of a crowd in Grand Central Station, claiming
he's from the planet K-PAX and eager to sample our produce, particularly Red
Delicious apples and bananas, which he eats, peel and all, when he's
incarcerated at the Manhattan Psychiatric Institute. Because of his incredible
intelligence, astonishing knowledge of astrophysics and inhuman tolerance to
medication, Prot captures the interest of a pragmatic but curious consultant,
Dr. Mark Powell (Jeff Bridges), who murmurs, "Let's hope extra-terrestrials
qualify for Medicaid." While Powell asks probing questions and attempts to
penetrate Prot's mind, the gentle, amiable alien gains great popularity among
his fellow inmates, each of whom wants to accompany him back to K-PAX on his
return. Up to this point, screenwriter Charles Levitt, who adapted Gene Brewer's
sci-fi novel, and director Ian Softley have fashioned a charming, fantastical
allegory, making Prot not unlike Jesus, and pitching pithy psychological points
about the importance of families and human interaction. (The theme is: "Get it
right this time - because this time is all you have.") Then, suddenly,
plummeting in an earthbound spiral, the plot veers into uncharted melodramatic
territory, making Dr. Powell into an amateur detective, determined to discover
the truth about a murder in New Mexico. Mercifully, the conclusion is left
somewhat ambiguous: is Prot really from K-PAX, having assumed someone else's
body for his visit here, or is he simply a psychotic man with a traumatic
secret? On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "K-PAX" is an insipid, delusional
5, but your enjoyment is entirely dependent on your ability to suspend
disbelief.
Copyright © 2001 Susan Granger
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