| Product: |
K-Pax (DVD) |
| Date: |
03/01/03 (57 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: compelling, intriguing, brilliantly acted
Disadvantages: none for me
One day, a man appears at a New York train station. He has no ticket. He has no luggage. He seems to have come from nowhere. He says his name is Prot and he is from the planet K-PAX, in a galaxy 1000 light years away from earth. He is immediately escorted to the nearest psychiatric institution.
At the institution, Prot (pronounced to rhyme with 'boat') is treated by workaholic psychiatrist Mark Powell. He does not respond to any drugs, and his story is flawless. Prot is able to explain space travel, his own planet and his own galaxy in minute detail. He can do incredible astronomic calculations that scientists one earth have been struggling with for years. He can talk to dogs. He can help patients in the institution when drugs and therapy have failed.
Powell becomes more and more fond of Prot, and more and more intrigued by his tale. Sometimes his belief that Prot is ill, and not an alien, falters. Prot's proclamations on the state of human existence and where we are going wrong strike chords with the doctor who works too hard and is neglectful of his family.
Prot declares that he is scheduled to leave earth and return to K-PAX on 27th July. Doctor Powell believes this date to be related to a significant and traumatic event in Prot's past, and that if he can unravel the mysterious significance of this date, he can unlock Prot's trauma and possibly save him from a critical psychiatric meltdown when the day arrives. To do this, Powell must play detective and construct Prot's past from the small amounts of 'earthly' information he receives from his patient, and must then enter Prot's trauma himself.
I will say no more about the plot of this movie. Is Prot really an alien from K-PAX, or is he suffering mental illness due to a deeply repressed trauma? As the race against time progresses, we feel as tense and intrigued as Doctor Powell himself.
Prot is played by the wonderful Kevin Spacey, a
nd he excels as the would-be-alien, imbuing him with wry wit, curiosity and an acute intelligence. It is easy to believe that he is an interested observer from another galaxy. In more emotionally intense moments, such as when Prot is being regressed to childhood, Spacey is again superb, portraying a child's fear and confusion with great depth and truth.
Spacey is equally matched by Bridges, who for me is one of the most understated and underrated actors around. He gives us a doctor who is essentially a good man who has simply forgotten to pay attention to the most important things in his life. As the relationship between the two characters develops, Bridges makes Doctor Powell's affection for Prot and sense of urgency about his future utterly believable.
The movie is directed by Iain Softley (The Wings of the Dove, Hackers, Backbeat), who does a great job of creating an ethereal, alluring atmosphere that draws you in and keeps you hooked despite the fact that the film is often slow-going and devoid of physical action. That said, the movie is full of 'emotional action' and we are taken on a ride encompassing laughter, empathy, sadness and wonder.
At the crux of this movie is the question of whether or not Prot really is an alien from K-PAX, and as such it is a fascinating mystery story. It is also a film about human behaviour and society, and a story of the power of love, communication, belief and hope. I defy anyone to watch this film and not be provoked into assessing their own lives and challenging their own behaviours and assumptions.
K-PAX is not a perfect movie. At times I found Prot's observations on human life rather too trite and obvious, and the transformation he produced in the other patients most certainly oversimplified the complex nature of mental illness and its solutions. However, these are minor criticisms that did not spoil my enjoyment to any large degree.
K-PAX is a unique movie that
is wonderfully brought to life by two superior performers who gel together perfectly. It is intriguing, thought-provoking, saddening, heartening and completely compulsive.
K-PAX has no answers, but asks you the viewer to make up your own mind, and in this cinematic age of gratuitous sex, pointless violence and unbelievably frenetic action - all of which have their place - it is a brilliantly refreshing change.
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