Entertainment Ave! The Movie Theater - A movie review of K-PAX.

K-PAX Movie Stats & Links
Starring:	Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges, Mary McCormack
MPAA Rated:	PG-13
Released By:	Universal Pictures
Web Site:	www.k-pax.com
Kiddie Movie:	They'd probably get bored. It's mostly a drama.
Date Movie:	It's a good movie for couples.
Gratuitous Sex:	Nah.
Gratuitous Violence:	There is some gory stuff towards the end.
Action:	Nah.
Laughs:	Some chuckles.
Memorable Scene:	Nothing really stands out.
Memorable Quote:	When Prot goes to Dr. Mark's house, one kid says "He looks like Data." The other kid says "Yea, that's right, embarrass him." Also, towards the end, one of the patients says something about another patient named Bess, to which other patient simply replies "Bitch."
Directed By:	Iain Softley
Produced By:	Lawrence Gordon, Lloyd Levin, Robert F. Colesberry

In "K-PAX" we get Kevin Spacey as Prot. Prot mysteriously appears one day in Union Station, in good ol’ New York City, and is arrested when, well, he tries to help a lady who just got robbed. Alright, the police aren’t just arresting people willy-nilly, they ask Prot where he came from, and when he tells them from another planet, well, it’s off to the psychiatric hospital for our man Prot. Eventually Prot gets assigned to Dr. Mark Powell (Jeff Bridges), who at first figures Prot is just a normal mental case, but Prot is very convincing in his describing his home planet, K-PAX, and even Dr. Mark begins to wonder if Prot is telling the truth. So counseling begins, Prot becomes even more convincing, but Prot also begins to interact with the other patients, telling them that he will be able to bring one of them back with him when he returns to K-PAX. Prot also begins to help the other patients deal with their mental issues, better actually than the other doctors, and between his talk of his home planet and his being able to help others in a different way, what is Dr. Mark to do but ask his brother-in-law for help.

You see, his brother-in-law is an astronomer-type dude, and he gives the Doc a list of questions to ask Prot, and mysteriously Prot gets them all correct. Then the Doc rounds up some more astronomer-type dudes and Prot astonishes all of them with detailed information about his planet’s solar system, so much so he even fixes some of the problems they were having in putting things all together. Ah, Prot’s case is strengthened, all until the good doctor has Prot over for his 4^th of July picnic. Prot seems fine, all until the kids start playing in the sprinkler, and then Doc Mark starts to see a side showing Prot is really just a delusional, a good delusional at that.

Putting the pieces together, to the almost end of the movie, it appears Prot is really just blocking a past experience, but what kind of mystical movie would that be if we found out Prot was just a man with a messed-up past. Nope, let’s toss in an "hmm" type of ending and in the end, you really just don’t know.

So what works in "K-PAX?" Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges. Both put on great performances, Spacey great as the totaling convincing delusional while Bridges just comes off as so confused that we are confused as well. Also working well in the movie is the cast of characters in the psychiatric ward, all hoping to get out of the loony bin without having to get better. The movie will make you wonder with Dr. Mark if Prot really is from another planet, become convinced that he is just delusional, but you want to see, along with the rest of the hospital staff, what is going to happen at sunrise on July 27^th, the time Prot says he is returning to his planet.

In the end "K-PAX" gives us a really good drama with some cute elements to bring us along. If that’s what you’re looking for, you’ll enjoy the movie, but if you want some spooky, scary aliens, this ain’t it. It’s 4 stars out of 5 for "K-PAX." Go ahead and pay full price and bring the girlfriend with you.