Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges in "K-PAX."

MOVIE INFORMATION

With 10 as a must-see, Jack gives this film a: Stars: Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges Director: Iain Softley Rated: PG-13, with profanity and violence Length: 120 minutes

ROCHESTERCRITIQUE

Having seen this film, how would you rate it? 10 5 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 1

By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

(October 26, 2001) -- Every psychiatrist who owns a couch has probably encountered someone claiming to come from outer space. It's just that Prot (Kevin Spacey) is more convincing than most mental patients.

In fact, Prot has Dr. Mark Powell (Jeff Bridges) baffled, especially because the patient has outwitted the nation's leading astronomers.

Prot was brought to Powell's Manhattan clinic after he seemingly appeared out of nowhere in the lobby of Grand Central Station and told cops that the light "on this planet" was too bright for his eyes.

Prot claims his home is the planet K-PAX. That's also the name of this somewhat schizophrenic film by Iain Softley, which is based on the novel by Gene Brewer.

The more appealing first half of K-PAX argues convincingly that Prot is, indeed, an alien. He eats bananas whole -- skin and all. He can see ultraviolet light, an impossible trait. And he can out-Einstein Einstein.

I especially love his ability to translate a dog's growls and barks.

But the film unravels in the messy second half and seems to argue that Prot isn't an alien, despite the evidence. Is he just a delusional soul with a disturbing past?

By the muddled end, viewers may find themselves frustrated and confused.

As long as the film focuses on its central theme -- the possibility of an alien on Earth -- K-PAX entertains.

But Softley and company mix in too many other elements. We're distracted by the complications of Powell's other mental health patients (who echo the colorful gang in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) and we're fed a pat mystery that shifts the film abruptly to the rural deserts of New Mexico.

Spacey creates a character who is, indeed, "spacey." He's eccentric but centered, and hides much of what he's thinking behind dark glasses. It's good work by a good actor; I long, though, for his edgier, earlier portrayals from The Usual Suspects to American Beauty.

Bridges is also good as the intrigued, befuddled and anxious psychiatrist, although he has less success suggesting the frustrations of a husband and father in an unhappy family. And, frankly, I found the casting distracting, as Bridges starred in a more convincing film on the same theme, 1984's Starman.