DON'T MISS THIS (K-Pax (DVD))

Member Name: snappy

Product:	K-Pax (DVD)
Date:	02/08/02 (149 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: thought provoking, sympathetic and heartwarming. Great performances from Spacey and Bridges

Disadvantages: Was not as big a hit here as it deserved to be

If you are tired of some of the inconsequential 'fluff' at the Cinema at the moment. Plus you are not looking at your head to be pounded in by watching some brainless actioner and you don't really feel up to a kid's film - this one might be just the ticket.

And I bet you missed this when it was at the Cinema!

K-PAX, was a massive hit in the States last year, and hit our screens back in April. Starring Oscar winning Kevin Spacey as the mysterious 'Prot', who turns up out of nowhere and professes to come from the Planet 'K-PAX'. Not surprisingly he is carted off to the nearest Mental hospital for 'further examination'.

Here, he meets Psychiatrist Dr Powell (Jeff Bridges), who is 'sceptical', to say the least! But Powell is also sympathetic and curious about the 'alien visitor'. Especially when Prot begins to have a rather strange effect on the mental health of the other patients.

Prot also seems to know far too much about 'other worlds', distant star systems and the galaxy in general. He appears before a panel of four eminent astronomers and gives them answers that no one else in the universe would know. Dr Powell, is thus faced with a dilemma. Who is Prot? Is there really a chance that he could be from the planet K-PAX ?

Meanwhile, back at the hospital he reveals to Dr Powell that he is planning on leaving soon. He must return home and will take just one person with him to K-PAX. For Powell, it is now a race against time to discover the truth about his mysterious patient.

Just before he is due to leave, the Doctor takes him home with him to meet his family, hoping that interacting with a real family (something he claims they don't have on K-PAX) will go some way to explaining the mystery behind Prot.

It does - in fact it is more than a chink of light thrown on the truth behind Prot.... more like a bolt of lightning!!!

Having watc
hed this film when it first came out, I came to it expecting an intelligent, thoughtful Sci-Fi movie. What K-PAX, is, in fact, is something far more heartwarming and real. Please do not get put off of this film by the 'Sci-fi' tag. This is a riveting, thought-provoking and extremely sympathetic portayal of the tricks the mind can play.

The film's Producer Lawrence Gordon is quoted as saying that it has the same kind of feel to it as a movie like 'Field of Dreams' - which he also produced . "Both stories are about passionate men who go against conventional behaviour simply because they are believing in something, as improbable as it might seem to others. And both stories contain rich, memorable characters that are hard to find in todays scripts"

It most definitely has that indescribable magic that holds the watcher. Intrigued at what the secret behind Prot is, but also hoping maybe that impossible is true, because you 'feel' for the characters.

I will not reveal what the truth behind 'Prot' is. In fact, I'm still not certain myself, as my wife and I came out of the cinema with different understandings. What I will say is that Spacey is awesome as the believable, but confusing 'alien' and Bridges (who himself played aliens in 'Tron' and in 'Starman', back in the 80s) is outstanding.

Directed extremely sympathetically by Iain Softley, this movie is definitely a MUST SEE and was one of the best films I've seen this year. It should be close to being out on DVD and Video - Don't miss it this time around.



CAST
Kevin Spacey --- Prot
Jeff Bridges --- Dr Mark Powell
Mary McCormack --- Rachel Powell
Alfre Woodard --- Dr Claudia Villars
David Patrick Kelly --- Howie
Saul Williams --- Ernie
Peter Gerety --- Sal
Celia Weston --- The Duchess
Ajay Naidu --- Dr Chakraborty
Tracy Vilar --- Maria
Melanee M
urray --- Bess
John Toles-Bey --- Russell

Directed by Iain Softley - Running Time 120 minutes

Summary: