Saturday, October 27, 2001
Worthy 'K-Pax' somehow misses the mark
K-Pax

Despite fine lead performances, the film doesn't quite grab you the way it should.

By CHRIS GLADDEN
SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES

   Well intended and at times involving, "K-Pax" is one of those maddeningly uneven movies that too frequently prevents you from slipping into its own reality.

    It lives in the shadow of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and even "Cool Hand Luke." But director Iain Softley and screenwriter Charles Leavitt don't trust the material enough to back off of their manipulative tendencies and let the story unreel unimpeded by standard trickery. Still, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey give performances that are muscular enough to bull their way through some of the movie's own brand of bull.

    Spacey plays an enigmatic character named Prot who winds up in a Manhattan psychiatric hospital. He seems harmless, though he entertains the delusion that he's from a planet called K-Pax.

    There are plenty of folks out there who will tell you they've been abducted by aliens and carted to other planets and maybe even spotted Elvis on the trip. So why this guy gets locked up is one of the stretches the movie asks us to buy.

    At any rate, the otherworldly Prot becomes the guru of the hospital, inspiring other patients to conquer their phobias, leave their rooms and shed their obsessions and compulsions. He even snares the interest of Mark Powell (Bridges), the chief psychiatrist, who vows to find out exactly who this Prot is.

    Powell is a hard-driving worker who doesn't give enough time to his family and is estranged from his eldest son. We know who can't heal himself by now and we know who can. Meanwhile, Prot divulges enough awe-inspiring scientific knowledge to wow a group of world-class astronomers.

    The movie is at its most irritating when it tries to warm the heart through the antics of all those endearing mental patients who only need a guy like Prot to lead them to wellness. There's no Big Nurse or Man with Know Eyes to hate, and the movie's portrayal of some of Prot's own brand of psychiatry is downright irresponsible.

    But as the story unfolds, the movie becomes more dramatic and takes on a whole different tone. Powell puts Prot under hypnosis in some of the spookiest and most suspenseful scenes, then flies across the country to get to the bottom of the mystery.

    Bridges is always good as a solid everyman, the kind of guy who could throw a decent barbecue. Mary McCormack turns in a nice performance as his devoted wife, who tries to gently coax him out of his type-A way of living. Spacey, the always interesting and always slightly off-center actor, moves Prot from one phase to another without losing his touch. He doesn't belt out a Beatles tune this time around, but you wouldn't be surprised if he did.

    There's nothing in the movie's messages or in its ultimately poignant developments that isn't worthy. But a little more care with some of the bigger questions, and a lighter hand on the inspirational touches, and the movie would have been more effective.

    K-Pax

    HHH

    A Universal release at Carmike 10 and Valley View Grande 16. Rated PG-13 for some language and violence. Two hours and 10 minutes.

   Three stars:.

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