Give me those
glasses, you promised it was my turn
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Is he a spaceman
or is he a nutter? You have two hours to decide.
Nigel
Bell
Coming at you
like a cross between One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, The
Fisher King and Starman, K-PAX is a Hollywood
rarity. There are no shoot outs, dazzling special effects or sex
scenes. This is a film which is dialogue heavy.
If you can suspend
your belief you're in for a treat, if you're sceptical from the
start you'll probably clock watch from the first fifteen minutes.
The Plot
Seemingly from out of nowhere Prot (Spacey) arrives in New York
declaring himself to be an alien from the planet K-PAX.
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| Spacey
was suddenly worried he'd beamed onto the set of 24 Hour Party
People |
He's promptly
carted off to the Psychiatric Institution of Manhattan, where he
comes under the psychiatric eye of Dr Mark Powell (Bridges).
From then on
it's a battle of wills between the two as to whether Prot is who
he claims to be or whether he's someone who's gone of the rails.
The Verdict
A simple enough plot but it's credit to director Softley and the
two principle actors that they sustain interest throughout the two
hours.
Prot's transfer
to an institution helps in providing a number of "strange"
sub characters which help move the plot along.
And there are
enough pieces of evidence dropped in which could suggest Prot is
who he says he is - he can apparently see ultra violet light (humans
can't), he knows an awful lot about parts of the universe we've
just started investigating.
But just when
you convince yourself he's genuine another plot twist makes you
think otherwise.
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| Jeff thought
back to the days when he once played aliens instead of boring
psychiatrists |
Bridges puts
in a solid Bridges role as the psychiatrist in danger of getting
too close to his subject.
Spacey is excellent.
When you first see him he comes across as a spaced out hippy but
quickly turns into a Data like character from Star Trek.
And anyone who
can eat bananas in their skins deserves the applause.
If you think
this is a film just about aliens from outer space, think again.
The underlying theme of K-PAX is the value of the family. Don't
let that put you off, it isn't rammed down your throat.
K-PAX is a film
which demands you let yourself be drawn in. If you do you won't
be disappointed.
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