From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Oct 24 16:00:12 2001 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!luth.se!isdnet!sn-xit-02!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Harvey S. Karten Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: K-Pax (2001) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2001 18:27:24 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 29934 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 258238 X-RT-TitleID: 1110283 X-RT-SourceID: 570 X-RT-AuthorID: 1123 Summary: r.a.m.r. #29934 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 94 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:27860 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2943 K-PAX Reviewed by Harvey Karten Universal Pictures Director: Iain Softley Writer: Bryan Goluboff, Charles Leavitt, novel by Gene Brewer Cast: Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridget, Alfre Woodard, Mary McCormack Screened at: Sony Lincoln Sq., NYC, 10/22/01 What makes sci-fi work for you? For me, a science fiction story must be absorbing above all; it should have internal logic; it should say something about the contemporary world. "Stepford Wives" is one example of a good one. 1. An entrancing tale; 2. A message about feminism; 3. Believable in its way. "Logan's Run" is another, with its 1. absorbing visuals; 2. Credible story; 3. Its point about how our society is so youth-absorbed that it disregards the input of its elders. "K-PAX" by contrast is shaky. Director Iain Softley wants to keep the audience guessing about the verity of claims made by Prot (Kevin Spacey), a man who is considered by most to be out of his mind, though harmless, and who is therefore kept in a psychiatric institute for weeks. Now, if you take a look at the patients in the building that houses the emotionally disturbed you may note that not a single one of them would qualify to remain there as none of them is violent. Obnoxious, maybe; but that's about it. Also: this is presumably a government-supported institution, and we know what those places are like. Yet prominent psychiatrist Dr. Mark Powell (Jeff Bridges) gives them individual therapy in a plush office, the inmates get group therapy, and the grounds are luxurious. Given the fact that psychiatrists dressed in $1,000 suits like Mark Powell can get $150 per session in New York City, is there any credibility here? The biggest problem in logic is that only a halfhearted attempt is made to explain the identity of the visitor who claims he is from K-PAX. Oh, and when Dr. Powell goes to New Mexico to check out a lead he receives about his star patient, he winds up ultimately in the town of Guelph. Someone gave him the wrong directions, because Guelph is in the province of Ontario. As for the commentary on today's society, there's nothing deeper than the sentimental twaddle peddled by the song, "C'mon people/Smile on your brother/Everybody get together, try to love one another right now." Terrific melody, insipid message. The principal reason for seeing the film in two words should be Kevin Spacey but here he turns in one of his least edgy, most gruesomely sentimental characterizations. Spacey is in the role of Prot, who appears in Grand Central Station one day, is incorrectly believed to have mugged a woman, and is escorted to a psychiatric institution by the cops simply because he says that he is from another planet. (I'd like a dollar for every New Yorker who thinks this: remember that New Yorkers ARE from another planet and what's more they'd hardly be hauled away to a looney bin for saying so.) Dr. Mark Powell is assigned his case and takes an interest in the man because Prot is the smartest patient he knows. In the film's best one-up line, when Prot goes against regulations in his comments to the patients, the doctor warns him that Prot's role is not to try to cure others. That is the doctors' job. "Then why aren't you curing them?" Prot replies. "K-PAX" goes wrong every time is milks the story for goo...the ways that Prot is able to make dramatic progress with the patients when doctors can do virtually nothing with them...the idyllic suburban scene featuring the Powell family with Golden Labrador Retriever, loving and sympathetic wife (Mary McCormack), the motif of man-in-second-marriage-with- estranged-son-from first. The film goes along just fine when Prot wows the astrophysicists with knowledge of outer space that he could not possibly have known if he were a mere human being. There is an interesting casting decision here, as Jeff Bridges is not on the other side of the desk from the time he played the Starman in 1984, abducting Karen Allen and gaining her affection because he looks almost exactly like her dead husband. Unfortunately, if you think there's anything new here, you ought to get out more often. Loving father looks adoringly at his two sleeping daughters. Supportive wife. Indifferent medical staff. Amazed scientists. If only Dr. Powell set his alarm when he took a nap on July 27, we might have gotten to the bottom of his patient's identity. Rated PG-13. Running time: 120 minutes. (C) 2001 by Harvey Karten, film_critic@compuserve.com ========== X-RAMR-ID: 29934 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 258238 X-RT-TitleID: 1110283 X-RT-SourceID: 570 X-RT-AuthorID: 1123 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Sat Nov 3 14:10:20 2001 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!erinews.ericsson.se!erix.ericsson.se!luth.se!nycmny1-snh1.gtei.net!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.gtei.net!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.frii.net!64.152.100.70.MISMATCH!sjcppf01.usenetserver.com!usenetserver.com!sn-xit-04!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Homer Yen Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: K-Pax (2001) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Sat, 03 Nov 2001 04:12:14 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 30083 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 262811 X-RT-TitleID: 1110283 X-RT-AuthorID: 1370 X-RT-RatingText: B- Summary: r.a.m.r. #30083 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 89 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:2077 rec.arts.sf.reviews:135 "K-Pax" – Only Limited Possibilities by Homer Yen (c) 2001 Sometimes life can wear you down like sandpaper. If you are not infused with periodic bursts of curiosity, your passion will deaden; your edginess will smooth; and your grittiness will disappear. So, we somewhat pity the frumpy Dr. Powell (Jeff Bridges) whose zeal equals that of eating a 7-11 hot dog. He is a psychoanalyst at Manhattan's psychiatric institute. And despite the variety of eccentrics that he oversees, he has just about seen it all. Kindly but weather-beaten, his mechanical demeanor also affects his home life. But in New York, miracles can happen. Just look at the indomitable Yankees. Their recent string of 9th inning heroics to overcome defeat was inspiring. And so is Kevin Spacey, who plays Prot, a mysterious patient that is assigned to the weary doctor. His understated performance is the best thing about "K-Pax," which is only a semisweet sci-fi yarn about an intriguing man who claims to be from the titled utopian planet 1,000 light years away. The problem in the end is that the film is a journey that seems to build a lot of potential energy, but the burst is never released. It effectively awakens possibilities and sparks curiosity, but it doesn't seem to be channeled anywhere. The film just kind of floats 'out there' in space without any real gravitational pull to move it in any concerted direction. That's too bad because Spacey's subtle performance lures us into a tale filled with imagination. Prot's convictions and his logical explanations make him the most convincing delusional that the good doctor has ever encountered. Even we may believe his far-fetched story. He says some curiously bizarre things like "your planet is too bright." Then, there's the strange way he eats a banana. Moreover, he displays an expertise in the esoteric field of astrophysics. Well, it's basic knowledge for K-Paxians as he mathematically plots his planet's orbit at a planetarium for a group of scientists and clarifies Einstein's Theory of Relativity. Powell remains convinced that Prot is the tragic victim of trauma, yet he is captivated nonetheless. His dormant sense of curiosity awakens to a certain degree. So convincing is Prot that we begin to wonder who is the actual doctor and who is the actual patient. So, it is the character interplay that gives life to this film. He instills a sense of healing and a sense of hope, not only in the doctor but in other patients as well. The film could have kept its gee-whiz pace for the duration and that would have been fine. But a couple of elements distract us. First, while Powell slowly recognizes that Prot is having some kind of positive effect, his family life never seems to improve, which seems to go against the direction of the story. Second, there's an abrupt change in tone near the end of the film as the melodramatic quotient goes into the stratosphere. While this sequence offers an explanation of who Prot is/might be, it seemed incongruent with what had transpired up to this point. Fortunately, watching Spacey and Bridges is gratifying in itself. The film just never reaches escape velocity. Grade: B- S: 0 out of 3 L: 1 out of 3 V: 1 out of 3 ========== X-RAMR-ID: 30083 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 262811 X-RT-TitleID: 1110283 X-RT-AuthorID: 1370 X-RT-RatingText: B- From rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Nov 6 18:49:03 2001 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!news.net.uni-c.dk!howland.erols.net!netnews.com!xfer02.netnews.com!feeder.qis.net!sn-xit-02!sn-post-02!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Aleksandar Zambelli Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: K-Pax (2001) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Mon, 05 Nov 2001 19:58:12 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 30109 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 263350 X-RT-TitleID: 1110283 X-RT-AuthorID: 4512 X-RT-RatingText: 7/10 Summary: r.a.m.r. #30109 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 82 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:2100 rec.arts.sf.reviews:137 Movie Review: "K-PAX" Director: Iain Softley Starring: Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges, Mary McCormack Genre: drama / thriller Kevin Spacey is one of those actors that over the years I have simply learned to trust. With a track record of hits such as "Swimming With Sharks," "Se7en," "The Usual Suspects," "LA Confidential" and "American Beauty," it's difficult to question his career moves. However, I must admit that upon seeing the previews for his newest movie "K-PAX," I had some doubts. Could the infallible Spacey make a mistake? Well, after seeing the movie, all I can tell you is that betting on Spacey is as sure as investing in Microsoft stock on the day before XBox is released. A strange patient who goes under the name of Prot (Kevin Spacey) is admitted into the Manhattan Psychiatric Clinic. Prot claims to be from K-PAX, a distant planet in a galaxy 1,000 light years away. Dr. Mark Powell (Jeff Bridges - "The Big Lebowski," "The Fisher King") approaches the case at first as a typical case of delusion, but Prot is so convincing that Dr. Powell can't help believing him. At the same time, Prot seems to have a positive influence on the other mental patients at the ward. However, the more Dr. Powell digs into Prot's mind, the stranger Prot's case becomes. Is he human or alien? I'm glad to report that this is a movie for which previews do not do it justice. The trailers I saw for the movie led me to believe that it was going to be a typical Hollywood "feel good" drama about an alien who comes to Earth and after a series of heartbreaking events ultimately realizes planet Earth is unique because of love or some crap like that. I congratulate the writers for avoiding that cliché and for pushing the story to another level. The script is well written, with much room left for interpretation and an ambiguous ending that will surely be a hot topic of discussion among fans. At the beginning of the movie, we are led to believe that Prot is an alien, almost beyond a shadow of a doubt. Later in the movie, however, the pendulum swings the other way as the possibility of his human nature increases. Kevin Spacey turns in yet another charismatic performance, even though the role does show some limitations. The highlight of his performance is definitely during the hypnosis scenes in which he does several different characters and is given enough room to show off his acting ability. Jeff Bridges appears in a role very reminiscent of the one in Terry Gilliam's "The Fisher King," yet wildly different than the one in "The Big Lebowski." Bridges is one of those actors that will probably never be a giant name in Hollywood, but will always provide us with good and believable performances in any movie he's in. Director Iain Softley creates a good atmosphere and paces the story so that it is suspenseful and not boring. This is not an easy task, mind you. Pacing in any movie is tricky; just a few extra minutes can sometimes be enough to throw the audience over the top and swing the movie from State of Suspense to State of Dreary Dull. Softley's use of sunlight as a leitmotif in the movie is clever; a good eye for detail is always a sign of a talented director. With the Academy Award nominations approaching quickly, we are sure to see more good movies come out in the months to come. I believe "K-PAX" is the opening act for the Oscar season, and I wouldn't be surprised if in a few months it finds its way to the list of Oscar nominations. It's Hollywood, it's Spacey, it's likeable. I'm telling you, you can't lose with Spacey. Score: 7 / 10 -- ========================= ============= E-Mail: zambelli@posluh.hr WWW: http://www.fit.edu/~azambell ICQ UIN: 7003861 ========================= ============= ========== X-RAMR-ID: 30109 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 263350 X-RT-TitleID: 1110283 X-RT-AuthorID: 4512 X-RT-RatingText: 7/10 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Fri Nov 16 16:37:17 2001 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!news.kth.se!uio.no!news.tele.dk!small.news.tele.dk!216.218.192.242!news.he.net!news!sn-xit-03!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Karina Montgomery Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: K-Pax (2001) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Mon, 12 Nov 2001 19:19:51 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 30150 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 264463 X-RT-TitleID: 1110283 X-RT-SourceID: 755 X-RT-AuthorID: 3661 Summary: r.a.m.r. #30150 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 73 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:2145 rec.arts.sf.reviews:140 K-Pax Matinee Price This film is just like reading a nice poem - pretty, thoughtful;, with gentle surprises tucked in, an encouragement to form one's own impressions, and then a smiling slide into forgettability. Also like a poem, the central image is what holds it together, rather than a compelling narrative structure. Kevin Spacey is that key element, the locus that makes the unfortunately titled tale work. Former Starman Jeff Bridges is an obsessive dismissive foil to Spacey's gentle Prot (rhymes with goat). Is he or isn't he? It doesn't even matter - the pleasure is in listening to the verses by Charles Leavitt, who has sunchased the novel of Gene Brewer's. Either he's human, which works, or he's not, which works too. Spacey's performance generously allows you to make your own decision. A user on the IMDB likened it to 12 Monkeys meets Cocoon, which is both short-sighted and completely misleading - 12 Monkeys is tense, surreal, funny, and circuitous, and Cocoon is elderly, feel-good, and a little pap-like. Just a little. Yes, the inmates of the asylum - I'm sorry, patients in the psychiatric hospital - are charming and eccentric and manageably cuddly. Yes, the looming identity question of whether or not Prot is actually from space is a wee bit like Bruce Willis' internal conflict for one reel of 12 Monkeys. However, this movie feels more like A.I. in its sweet contemplative passages, or The Green Mile in the wonderful reactions to the miracle of Coffey. The cinematographer John Mathieson (Gladiator) caresses light of all forms with his camera for most of the shots, sliding along a dust-limned beam like a finger along the back of an antique chair. The result is the delicate magical feel as City of Angels, tasting light, feeling the air around us. Nearly every shot is littered with delicate chromatic aberrations, thrown casually by prisms or drinking glasses or what have you, snippets of the visual poem of bent light. The little fragments of rainbow serve as a moderately obvious reminder that there is more than just what our locked-in senses, our logic, can perceive. It's what makes this film worth watching. That, and Kevin Spacey. Prot manages to spout the not-unusual but certainly timely late-model Star Trek messages of the inherent savagery and short-sightedness of humans these days, without sounding condescending or condemning. Prot, whether in his mind or back on K-Pax, is a scientist as well; and watching him and Bridges tasting each other's minds is the dynamic that makes this a watchable film. Bridges is similar in carriage to his president character in The Contender - very intelligent but also very stubborn, and definitely not willing to expand his concept of what's possible beyond what he knows for certain himself. Perhaps it's psychologist training that makes people that way, maybe it's a zodiac sign; either way, Bridges brings more of it across than would simply be implied by the scripted dialogue. They both did a great job, and there are little vignettes that allow the audience, if they are willing to not be scientific, to doubt, and to wonder. A film that does that will get my blessing every time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ These reviews (c) 2001 Karina Montgomery. Please feel free to forward but just credit the reviewer in the text. Thanks. cinerina@flash.net Check out previous reviews at: http://www.cinerina.com http://ofcs.rottentomatoes.com - the Online Film Critics Society http://www.hsbr.net/reviews/karina/ - Hollywood Stock Exchange Brokerage Resource http://www.mediamotions.com http://www.capitol-city.com ========== X-RAMR-ID: 30150 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 264463 X-RT-TitleID: 1110283 X-RT-SourceID: 755 X-RT-AuthorID: 3661 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Fri Nov 16 16:37:20 2001 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!newsfeed.bahnhof.se!newsfeed1.telenordia.se!algonet!news.man.lodz.pl!news.nask.pl!news.ipartners.pl!news1.ebone.net!news.ebone.net!diablo.netcom.net.uk!netcom.net.uk!news-hub.cableinet.net!blueyonder!newsfeed1.cidera.com!Cidera!netnews.com!nntp.abs.net!feeder.qis.net!sn-xit-02!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Jerry Saravia Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: K-Pax (2001) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2001 19:31:27 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 30185 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 266012 X-RT-TitleID: 1110283 X-RT-SourceID: 875 X-RT-AuthorID: 1314 X-RT-RatingText: 2/4 Summary: r.a.m.r. #30185 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 66 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:2175 rec.arts.sf.reviews:143 K-PAX (2001) Reviewed by Jerry Saravia November 14th, 2001 RATING: 2 stars Do not be fooled by the ads. "K-PAX" will not make you change the way you look at the world for one good reason - you've seen this tale before and done far better. Consider it an "Analyze This" crossed with the haunting riches of "Man Facing Southeast" and you'll see how the melding of different films and tones result in one confused, predictable, highly indifferent movie. Kevin Spacey is the stubbly new patient at the Psychiatric Institute of Manhattan, having just been admitted as he was found wandering at a train station commenting on Earth's brightness. He calls himself Prot and claims to be an alien from the planet K-PAX. There is a haggard psychiatrist, Dr. Mark Powell (Jeff Bridges), who has the task of determining Prot's sanity and whether or not he is an alien. Prot is persuasive. He is so persuasive that the doctor is convinced the man is not so delusional. Dr. Powell gathers a panel of astronomers to determine whether Prot's supposed solar system, 100 light years away, exists. Prot draws a diagram that has the astronomers astounded in disbelief. It is this crucial scene that had me convinced the man is an alien or he has studied astronomy and is some kind of scientific genius.Why? Because the astronomers are shown to be astounded. If this is not enough proof and Dr. Powell is sure Prot could be mentally ill, then why doesn't he ask a question that bugged me througho ut the movie: since when do aliens sport stubble? These questions would not have bothered me in the slightest if the movie hadn't bored me. Unfortunately, the director Iain Softley ("The Wings of the Dove") finds a rather monotonous tone by delaying the plot for as long as humanly possible, and keeps repeating key scenes with little flair or energy. The scenes between Prot and the doctor should be engaging and fascinating but something is off. Spacey and Bridges seem indifferent and speak in hushed tones that only drove me nuttier than Prot. Bridges is the master of hushed tones, finding a voice decibel level that is often inviting. Not so this time, and Spacey, one of the most electrifying actors working today, is too restrained for his own good. I sense that he was miscast in this role - perhaps someone like Christopher Walken (who looks like an alien) might have cut right to the core of Prot. And to make matters worse, we have the motley crew of patients that irritate in ways I cannot begin to describe. They just aren't engaging in any way, nothing like the similar group of patients in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" or "Awakenings." Here they seem to be marking time, and their weight is dictated by Prot's ability to cure them of their mental states and his promise to take one lucky patient back to his home planet. "K-PAX" is one awkward hybrid of comedy and offbeat drama that results in a typical, simple morality tale. Prot teaches the doctor a valuable lesson about family and unity. He seems to say that we must be united and invest time on this great planet earth doing so. I would have expected more from a would-be alien as smart as Einstein. For more reviews, check out JERRY AT THE MOVIES at http://moviething.com/members/movies/faust/JATMindex.shtml E-mail me with any questions, comments or general complaints at faustus_08520@yahoo.com or at Faust668@aol.com ========== X-RAMR-ID: 30185 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 266012 X-RT-TitleID: 1110283 X-RT-SourceID: 875 X-RT-AuthorID: 1314 X-RT-RatingText: 2/4 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Sat Nov 17 23:35:12 2001 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!news.net.uni-c.dk!uninett.no!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.stanford.edu!sn-xit-01!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Shannon Patrick Sullivan Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: K-Pax (2001) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2001 20:37:07 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 30230 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 266608 X-RT-TitleID: 1110283 X-RT-SourceID: 886 X-RT-AuthorID: 1699 X-RT-RatingText: 2.5/4 Summary: r.a.m.r. #30230 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 55 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:2217 rec.arts.sf.reviews:149 K-PAX (2001) / ** 1/2 Directed by Iain Softley. Screenplay by Charles Leavitt, based on the novel by Gene Brewer. Starring Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges, Mary McCormack. Running time: 120 minutes. Rated AA by the MFCB. Reviewed on November 16th, 2001. By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN Synopsis: Prot (Spacey) claims to be from another planet, K-PAX. Mark Powell (Bridges) is the psychiatrist assigned to Prot's psychiatic ward. As Prot touches the lives of those around him, Powell questions whether he could actually be telling the truth. How else to explain his ability to see ultraviolet light, or vanish into thin air? When Prot reveals that his return to K-PAX is imminent, Powell races against time to unearth the mystery of his past. Review: "K-PAX" is probably a better movie than it should have been. Much of this is due to Kevin Spacey, who proves once again what a versatile talent he is. As Prot, Spacey owns this film; he's charismatic, funny, enigmatic and -- at just the right moments -- touching. There is great latitude in Leavitt's script to take things over the top, but while Spacey doesn't homogenise his character, nor does he overindulge. The actor walks a fine line between comedy and drama, and it's a testament to Spacey's success that the two blend seamlessly. But as interesting as Prot is, he's trapped in a story which owes too much to "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" and not enough to genuine originality. Prot's ward is filled with the kinds of colourful eccentrics we've come to expect from this kind of picture: they each have delightful quirks, and none is so dysfunctional as to temper the atmosphere of jollity. Similarly, Bridges' rather bland Dr Powell endures family troubles lifted from just about every one-hour drama in the history of broadcast television. Fortunately, Softley's direction rises above the banalities of the script; he makes great use of light-related phenomena -- reflections, refractions, and so forth. And "K-PAX" offers a pleasantly ambiguous ending which is, paradoxically, far more satisfying than a more concrete resolution could ever have been. Copyright © 2001 Shannon Patrick Sullivan. Archived at The Popcorn Gallery, http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies.html | Shannon Patrick Sullivan | shannon@mun.ca | +---------------------------------+---------------------------------+ / Doctor Who: A Brief History of Time (Travel) go.to/drwho-history \ \__ We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars __/ ========== X-RAMR-ID: 30230 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 266608 X-RT-TitleID: 1110283 X-RT-SourceID: 886 X-RT-AuthorID: 1699 X-RT-RatingText: 2.5/4 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Nov 21 13:12:54 2001 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!erinews.ericsson.se!erix.ericsson.se!luth.se!sunqbc.risq.qc.ca!headwall.stanford.edu!newsfeed.stanford.edu!sn-xit-01!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Dennis Schwartz Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: K-Pax (2001) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2001 19:47:25 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 30248 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 267001 X-RT-TitleID: 1110283 X-RT-SourceID: 873 X-RT-AuthorID: 1315 X-RT-RatingText: C Summary: r.a.m.r. #30248 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 94 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:2234 rec.arts.sf.reviews:153 K-PAX (director/writer: Iain Softley; screenwriters: Charles Leavitt/based on the novel by Gene Brewer; cinematographer: John Mathieson; editor: Craig McKay; music: Edward Shearmur; cast: Kevin Spacey (Prot), Jeff Bridges (Dr. Mark Powell), Alfre Woodard (Claudia), Mary McCormack (Rachel Powell), Peter Gerety (Sal), Saul Williams (Ernie), David Patrick Kelly (Howie), Celia Weston (Mrs. Doris Archer), Melanee Murray (Bess), Kimberly Scott (Joyce), Ajay Naidu (Dr. Chakraborty); Runtime: 118; Universal Pictures; 2001) Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz K-Pax is about a genial workaholic shrink at a fancy Manhattan psychiatric hospital, Dr. Mark Powell (Jeff Bridges), treating a highly intellectual and gentle man (Kevin Spacey) who calls himself Prot and insists he comes from an unknown planet called K-Pax. He makes his grand entrance in Grand Central Station to the beat of some New Age tunes, where he appears suddenly in the crowded station during the mugging of a woman while dressed in dark sun glasses with a golden aura surrounding him and a panhandler looking up at him in wonder because the man came from "nowhere." This makes him either a mental case or an alien. He is referred by the police to Bellevue for mental observations, then to Dr. Powell's clinic for a more intensive study. The more interesting choice is, of course, if he can keep up the cocky alien act and really be from that planet which is a thousand light years away. He is someone who has supernatural powers, is far superior morally and intellectually than mere earthlings, as he probes with a detached air into human problems and dispenses remedies at will while making a report on his five year visit to Earth. The fun in the story is in pursuing the mystery and once the film throws light upon the mystery, the story falls apart in its pool of psychobabble. Prot will by the film's end miraculously cure at least three severely damaged mental patients (David Patrick Kelly/Saul Williams/Celia Weston) and help others in many smaller ways (Melanee Murray/Peter Gerety), he even solves the doc's ticklish family problem by getting him to talk again with his college son from his first wife. For about an hour into the film, Prot is a charmer and keeps this manipulative story mildly probing. He tickles his shrink's curiosity by not reacting metabolically to high dosages of medicines and drugs; by his confident attitude that he's a time traveller and that he can disappear at will from the secure clinic--he takes a holiday north to Greenland for a few days; he even communicates with a dog by understanding what his barks mean; and, mostly through his knowledge of celestial science that is superior to a panel of leading astrophysicists, who assemble in the Rose Center planetarium to hear him fill them in on what they don't know. It reminded me most of the 1986 Argentine film by Eliseo Subiela "Man Facing Southeast." That film also left the viewer to draw his own conclusions on whether the patient is a nut or an alien visitor, and was also a manipulative film that failed to address the real problems of the mentally ill except to glorify them in unreal general terms. The film had great performances by both Spacey and Bridges, but their contacts with the mental patients was bogus. It reduced the patients to stereotypes of what Hollywood films take the mentally ill to be. What it asks from the viewer is a suspension of disbelief as to all the alien jazz it presents, as the seduction of the viewer runs parallel to the shrink being gently taken in by the slight possibility that this one isn't a loony but a real space visitor. As long as the story kept that plot line going, it had some intrigue. The story was a balancing act of a duel between the sincere, emotionless but smug Spacey who could be an alien or someone with a troubled past he deeply repressed and the plain talking, establishment-orientated suburban shrink who was more clever than his simple-minded questioning would indicate. But the film could never get over the tired script, the familiar story done in countless mainstream films, and the plodding pace of the film. The second hour of the film was a let down, as the story walked down hospital corridors with dialogue fit only for a B-film. It nauseously ends with a voice-over from Spacey telling the earthlings "Get it right this time. This time is all you have." Then we are treated to seeing Bridges meet his son for a home visit. The message was too corny for even these fine actors to spit out without looking overly didactic. But it did get in some good licks at conventional psychiatry and their inability to cure or even treat great hordes of patients properly and the modern world's need to praise Jesus and Buddha but reject their non-violent teachings. It is based on a novel by Gene Brewer and written by Charles Leavitt, and directed without courage or much imagination by Iain Softley (Backbeat/Hackers). REVIEWED ON 11/17/2001 GRADE: C Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews" http://www.sover.net/~ozus ozus@sover.net © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ ========== X-RAMR-ID: 30248 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 267001 X-RT-TitleID: 1110283 X-RT-SourceID: 873 X-RT-AuthorID: 1315 X-RT-RatingText: C