Kevin Spacey finds a tailor-made vehicle here for his self-satisfied smile and glibly patient manner, portraying a New York City mental patient at Bellevue who claims to be a visitor from a distant planet called K-PAX. Jeff Bridges is the staff psychiatrist (and hypnotist!) at the hospital who takes an interest in Spacey's Prot, testing his knowledge about astrophysics but always coming up with more questions than answers. The other patients on the ward are a friendly, movie-colorful lot, and Spacey and Bridges manage a comfortable give-and-take (though the hypnosis scenes are strenuous), so why was "K-PAX" so maligned by professional critics? This smoothly-handsome film, adapted from the novel by Gene Brewer (also the associate producer), may be an unabashed commercial "product" but it isn't a cop-out. The tall tale weaves a squirrelly spell on its audience--a spell that may seem silly once it wears off--however it is an entertaining and satisfying endeavor for the time it's on. Bridges is controlled and professional, while Spacey gets some nervous highs and contrite lows (a dream for any actor). It would be easy to put down such a picture for its outrageous qualities, and I didn't much care for the opening where Spacey is seemingly arrested for no reason (nor a later one involving a freak-out at a holiday gathering). Nevertheless, the movie does find its voice, it manages a solid final act, and the character Prot is a memorable one. "K-PAX" isn't Oscar material, but it isn't campy or weepy, either. It's harmless fun. *** from ****
Review of K-PAX
