COLUMN: ‘K-Pax’ doesn’t give away ending
It’s pretty obvious no one told director Lain Softley (Hackers) that movies about aliens were supposed to have creatures with massive heads and large colorless eyes. Or that aliens only come to Earth to mutilate cattle, anally probe the town wacko or use human bodies as host for their young, eventually exploding out of their host’s stomach in a dramatic slosh of stomach acid and extra-terrestrial amniotic fluid. K-Pax, the latest movie by Softley has none of these things.
The gist of the movie goes like this: Prot, Kevin Spacey (Pay it Forward, American Beauty), looks like a man, but claims to be from another planet called K-Pax. Dr. Mark Powell, Jeff Bridges (The Contender, The Big Lebowski), is the psychologist assigned to treat Prot. As Dr. Powell gets deeper and deeper into Prot’s case, he finds himself becoming more and more unable to diagnose his so-called extra-terrestrial patient and by halfway through the movie Dr. Powell often finds himself the one being analyzed and taught by the would-be alien.
Prot also begins to affect the other patients in the clinic, talking to them like real people and giving them a long lost and much needed hope.
The acting by Spacey in this film is phenomenal. His movements, body posture, tone of voice and presence all lend to the validity of the Prot character.
The writing for this film is also excellent, drawing the audience into complex emotional issues while keeping the dialogue and actions of the characters light and often laugh-out-loud funny.
Many of the supporting cast’s characters took a back seat to the Prot character but were perfectly played and added a rich setting we traveled through. Some of the more memorable characters were: Howie, an obsessive-compulsive played by David Patrick Kelley (Songcatcher); Ernie, played by Saul Williams (King of the Korner) who is a patient that is terrified of germs, and Mrs. Archer, played by Celia Weston (Hearts in Atlantis), a recluse who dresses in hospital robes and gaudy jewelry.
One of the most remarkable things about this movie is the director’s use of light as a visual and structural constant within the film. As you watch this film, something so everyday and ordinary as light becomes unique, special and a little magical.
During one of the funniest parts of this movie, Prot devours an entire banana without removing the peel, looks at Dr. Powell and says, “Your produce alone has been worth the trip.” K-Pax, in my opinion, is as equally worth a trip or even a return trip to the theater.
Grade: A