Genres

Visitors Review

Steve Pulaski 2012-05-17 10:43:08

An honest alien or a very delusional mental patient?

K-PAX is one of the most wonderful, engaging, and interesting sciencefiction films I have yet to see. It is projected in its own sea ofinnocence not trying to establish a following of any kind, not tryingto dominate the Oscars, but simply to tell a simple yet complex storyof a man who convinces people he is from a mysterious planet in aconstellation we homo-sapiens know nothing about.The man's name is Prot (rhymes with "goat," who is played by KevinSpacey) and the planet is named "K-PAX." Prot is arrested at an airportfor mysteriously hovering over a woman who had just been mugged. Protis taking for psychiatric evaluation at The Psychiatric Institute ofManhattan where Dr. Mark Powell (Bridges) takes care of the man andlistens to his convincing stories and his quirky lifestyle on thisplanet.We are told "K-PAX" is in the Lyra constellation, which Earth haslittle knowledge of. This only further makes the audience believes thatProt is being honest, but several instances in the film make us wonderif he's an honest alien or a very delusional mental patient who wantsto believe he is from the planet. My opinion on the matter isn't vital,and I encourage everyone to form their own when watching. It's notsomething to strike a debate about, and I fear that by providingevidence I'll be spoiling what is one of the most intriguing sciencefiction tales in a blue moon.Prot's evaluation is a tricky one. He speaks with big words, longmonologues, all in a calm and very subtle nature. He is a gentle man,not looking to harm, but looking to promote arguments and opinions ashe is seen communicating with dogs in one scene and proving that wehave misunderstood what Einstein has said for many, many years.Prot is definitely one of the most interesting film characters I'vecome across in quite sometime. Here is a man that has been treated likedirt, forced to deal with not being taken seriously until stumblingupon an amazing doctor, and has been lead this way and that and canstill talk and approach people in a quiet and controlled manner. Neverdoes this character become a bore because his antics and daring actionskeep us amused and baffled. Even though he is technically a stranger toour planet, he has the gall to criticize our way of life even when heis being held for psychiatric counseling. Maybe that makes him one ofthe bravest characters too.K-PAX was developed from the book of the same name, and author GeneBrewer worked side by side with Charles Leavitt to write the script. Ialso enjoy when writers adapt their own books to film. It creates amore sentimental feel to the work rather than having some immediatestranger take someone else's work into thei own hands. Many, many filmshave been successful that way, but it's nice to see the original personadapt their own personal work on the screen in the way, shape, and formthey themselves want to see it in.This is quite a film. It may take hours to sink in with some people.But somehow, this little gem managed to squeeze itself under the radar.Being heavy on the drama but very clear with the science fictionelement, K-PAX is a thought-provoking and a completely genuine movieexperience.Starring: Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges, Mary McCormack, and AlfreWoodard. Directed by: Iain Softley.

surgicalsalad 2012-05-17 01:02:09

Ambiguous plot leaves one with mixed feelings.

K-Pax was a film I only knew of by way of reputation, none of what Ihad heard was respectable. Of course, it landed in with the gems oflate night cable, and like any decent insomniac does, I decided towatch it, keeping in mind I probably saw an edited version.The essential plot of K-Pax is the story of Prot (pronounced 'Prote'),as either a man of great delusion or an alien of great patience who issent to a psychiatric institution. Spacey works his usual magic withthe role, making Prot likeably bizarre. He makes friends with the otherpatients in the loony bin, and is polite and responsive to the doctors;remarkably successful in both accounts. He cures a hypochondriac andstuns astronomers without missing a quiet mannered beat behind thosedark sunglasses.The problem I had however, lies with how the script tries to portrayProt. At first, the plot seems to assure us in all manners that he isnothing short of a full blown alien (his uncanny knowledge of unchartedregions of the galaxy, his sensitivity to light and so on.) Then itfalters, and decides more matter-of-factly that Prot is a humansuffering from mental illness. It bounces back and forth this way allthe way up to the end.I won't tell you how the movie ends, and I'll leave you up to your owndevices to form an opinion. To me, it seemed as if the movie wasconfused with itself, but it was too simplistic and direct with itspresentations of both arguments to really pull off its desired effect.

2012-05-13 22:28:24

The fastest gun in the west routine?

K-PAX is one of those strange movies that can't exactly fit in the definition of any genre, but that doesn't make it a bad film. Actually, is one of the best films of 2001, in my opinion.It tells us the story about Prot, a mysterious guy who wears sunglasses all the time. A guy who claims to come from a planet called K-Pax in the Lyra constellation. Obviously, people think he's just a crazy guy and the NYPD takes him directly to a mental institute, where Prot gets to meet Dr. Powell.However, Prot stories are so real, so vivid, so believable, that he can actually convince the other patients that he actually is an extraterrestrial. And Dr. Powell is not the exception, Powell actuall starts to believe what Prot has to tell him. Or at least, he gives him the benefit of the doubt.Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges and David Patrick Kelly star in this beautiful film, a story that reminds us that we often close our minds to that we're not familiar with, the fear of the unknown, and how we always try to find an explanation to everything. The acting is marvelous, especially from David Patrick Kelly as Howie, even though is a supporting character it has an incredible charm!The DVD has some cool features, but the only complaint I have about it that cover. Man! Why couldn't they just use the original poster? Besides that, sound and picture quality are perfect! By the way, the score is superb!

pksky1 2012-05-13 10:06:26

Strange and unsettling science fiction movie

Real fans of science fiction know that there is far more to the genre thenjust space ships and weird looking aliens. The potential for some realdrama exists without depending on the least of special effects. We see afine example of this in this film. It is tempting to explain away the filmas a morality story without the slightest science fiction in it, but a closeobserver will certainly disagree.A man claiming to be an alien from another planet is culled into apsychiatric ward after being discovered in a public disturbance. He isattracts the attention of the ward's head physician who discovers he has aneerie and unexplainable talent for astrophysics. The doctor's convictionsabout his patient are also troubled by the discovery of other circumstancesin the man's history.The film seems to yield occasionally to small platitudes, but the story'sbasic motivation is never surrendered.

2012-05-08 19:27:07

Awesome

This movie was wonderful. It takes a trip from reality to the land of "what if". Kevin Spacey was excellent, but that's nothing unusual. Most movies about aliens are not believable, but this is not the case here. Everything was wonderful about this movie.

Johnrx86 2012-05-08 04:44:40

Great movie. Better than bandits + zoolander combined...

I thought that this was a good movie. If it weren't for the ending, I wouldhave given it a 9 or a 10. Kevin Spacey delivers a wonderful perfomance,topped only in my opinion by Jeff Bridges.FINAL VERDICT: Go see this movie!

Rita 2012-05-07 00:54:15

Could have been better

Since I would give Gene Brewer's homonym book this movie was based on a10/10, I rated the movie as high as successful I think the adaptationwas, comparing them as much as I could within the word limit.Lovely soundtrack, the way they used light and colour to refer toprot's special vision and light travels was beautiful and most of thepeople looked and acted just like I thought. Kevin Spacey was terrific– three for him out of the six stars, one for the music, one for thecinematography and one for the good scenes – but Bridges with hispatronising attitude was so different from the novel's doctor that Ididn't mind his name changed. Neither his wife was "wonderfullyunderstanding" as in the book, and seeing the other main femalecharacter, Villers even worse made me wonder what kind of experiencesthe scriptwriter must have had with women.I think the parts true to the novel were fine due to it beingexcellent, this review is mainly about the changed ones, so furtherreading is recommended only to those who have already seen the film.SPOILERS!A general problem was the book's very finely tuned ambiguity ruined: inthere both theories had equal plausibility, which preventeddisappointment over the unanswered ending, unlike it happened in themovie.The patients' behaviours only made sense knowing the novel (forexample, the way Howie's tasks worked). The dog's scene went wrong too:she wasn't fear aggressive as in the book, so it made no sense when theguests got worried about her coming, and when Steve said she neverliked "anyone" (strangers, he should have said)."Let me tell you what your alternative is. A trip to a place wherethey'll stick a needle in your ass every morning which may or may notleave you with a stupid grin on your face for the rest of your days"says Mark to prot. The novel's psychiatrist never insulted, belittledand threatened him like that but worse is that this is one, but not theonly reference to the 1986 Argentinean movie Man Facing Southeast. Init Rantes, a patient of a mental institute believing he is an alien, isfinally given anti-psychotic injections. The first one is given in hisbottom then his condition starts to deteriorate, stages include astupid grin on his face. Shame that in comparison to the book it wasbased on, K-PAX the movie had parts added or altered to make it similarto MFS (for example, the doctor's family setup: two young children, sonhe refuses to phone, wife he can't get on with) without giving creditso they ended up in a lawsuit with the author of the novel dragged in.One consolation is that K-PAX is good advertising for it. I only heardabout, bought and watched MFS because it was mentioned in thesereviews, which is a shame because it's well good (I gave it 9 stars inthe review I've just posted about it), as good as the K-PAX novel butbetter than the movie due to the errors in the latter.The hypnosis scenes went wrong the most. Erroneous (the risk –abreaction – is not necessarily related to regression, and is worth totake as anyone hypnotises is supposed to know how to deal with it) andit ruins the book's work to dispel myths about hypnosis. For example,to show that a person in trance can look like and act as in wakingstate, prot is asked at start to open his eyes. Not in the movie.In the book the doctor informs 56 times about prot's body language and29 times about of others, sometimes describing the signals as barelyperceptive or detective – and in the movie the physician has to warnhim to read prot's body language and prot to announce that he wanted abreak?!? And apparently the filmmakers tried to save time wrong way:prot skipped six years when he was asked to move two weeks forward. Andhow could prot be Robert's protector (after all, his name could as wellhave been derived from this word) if he breaks down remembering themurder (where originally the little girl was raped as well, why to tameit down?).The camera giving out was ridiculous – what about showing instead thesecurity guy taking eyes off the screen? And when prot was found in hisroom within seconds it so ruined the ending. In the novel it greatlyadded to the mystery of his character that they couldn't find him forhours and he could get in the room of Bess, and it was a lot better wayto indicate that he had something to do with her disappearance than thepatients pointing it out, which even made a reviewer think that sheexisted only in their imagination.Some of what I liked:The parts with only music on, and prot looking around, like when he wasat the Powells or in the car. The planetarium – however much differentit was I think it's the scene represents the book's atmosphere thebest.The novel never reveals what exactly prot says to people that gainstrust in minutes, so I was very impressed to see that the movie, thoughmaybe demystifying him a bit, provided some great examples! At timesthe movie put just as much effort as the book did into small details,for example, when the website address they looked up Robert's report onor the caption underneath his graduation picture was so clear to see.The Robert scenes were amazing – I'll never forget the one when hewashed his hands at the sprinkler crying…In summary I think the good scenes, even being in minority, are goodenough to outweigh the bad, making the movie definitely enjoyable ifthe messed-up parts are disregarded.

2012-05-06 14:23:39

eh... the book was better

although I didn't like this movie or the book, I believe gene brewer's way of describing the whole thing from a psycologist's point of view was much more interesting. In the book, you are led to believe several different things - that KPAX is real, that prot (rhymes with goat) is a schizophrenic/multiple personality type of case, etc. The movie lacks emotion compared to Gene Brewer's description of the slow unravelling of prot's past.

2012-05-05 20:09:53

Believe

How much are you willing to believe? are you a supersticious person? or a realistic person? this movie answers it all. With an outstanding performance by Academy-award winner Kevin Spacey, this movie is out of this world. The story is about a guy who claims to be from another planet. Is it true or not? watch this thrilling movie and be amazed.An element worth mentioning and probably the first thing that would grab your attention is the music. New-age mixed with techno with a frame of classic music is presented by composer Edward Shearmur to carry you through this mystical journey. It's the kind of movie that makes you run to the book store and buy the book then make a quick run to the music store and buy the soundtrack and then log on to ebay and try to find memoribilia. i.e. it is highly addictive, a must have for anyone who loves new ideas, needs to put his life in perspective or simply somebody who hates starwars! Buy it and you won't regret it :)

Joelle 2012-05-05 09:03:45

Less than I expected

I had such hope for this movie... Kevin Spacey is a talented actor, and hisperformance is super-duper! However what he had to work with ended up beinga plot that left me empty and wanting something else for fulfillment -heading to get more popcorn and another coke.Not often do I enjoy the film score *more* than the movie... but this was arare exception. The cinematography was also over the top (in a good way). Ifelt taken away... too bad there were so many questions left unanswered,toobad there wasn't just a little more hope at the end.

2012-05-03 07:31:21

Nothing short of Amazing!

Leaves you wondering and wondering.. A MUST SEE IF YOU LIKED "A BEAUTIFUL MIND!!" Kevin Spacey is an actor beyond the stars in this movie!

2012-05-03 03:03:15

I bet Planet K-Pax sucks. I know the movie did.

The boredom was too much. The movie goes on and on and on. Atfirst the alien plot is intriguing, but after the first hour, everycharacter is still standing around scratching his/her head saying,"Is he an alien or isn't he?" I stopped caring.The movie didn't bother explaining one important point: Why didProt take over the body of this guy in New Mexico? Why did Portchoose him? And why were we supposed to care about the NewMexico man's family who got killed. We never meet the wife or kid,and we only see the father in a hypnotic state. The whole subplotabout New Mexico and murder is just stupid.One more thing. If Jeff Bridges makes one more movie where he'smarried to a hot woman 20 years younger than him, I'm going topuke. In every movie he's in, he has little kids running around him.For crying out loud, the man's got grandkids older than hisonscreen kids. Not an important point, but it bothers me.

Luke Chandler 2012-05-01 08:12:41

Excellent Film.

This film--a surprisingly emotional and touching one, might I add--isabouta man who is thoroughly convinced he is an extra-terrestrial from thedistant planet K-Pax. Kevin Spacey (The Usual Suspects, American Beauty)once again proves himself to be an exceptional actor as this film'sprincipal character, particularly during the scenes in which he ishypnotized. Jeff Bridges' performance is also noteworthy. An excellentfilm and an absolute must-see for fans of Spacey.

2012-04-30 17:46:54

K-KRAP

On the one hand, you've got the nuthouse dramas where the mental patient provides deep truths to inmates and staff alike (Don Juan DeMarco; Cuckoo's Nest). On the other hand, you've got the Taoist alien dispensing generic new-age advice (Starman). Trying to mix the two was a BIG mistake. This movie was way too long, way too slow, too self-involved and overall just dull. Kevin Spacey has done some fantastic work (Seven; American Beauty; Usual Suspects) but this is isn't it. Also, someone said the ending was ambiguous. Not true. Prot is Robert Porter.

Mohsin Khan 2012-04-27 21:07:56

A very light, hypnotic and relaxing movie to watch on a Saturday night

K-Pax explores the lives of a doctor (jeff bridges) and patient (kevinspacey) who meet one another for the first time when the patient isbrought into the psychiatric institute of Manhattan due to his claimsof being an alien from the planet K-Pax, belonging to the constellationlyra. Upon meeting each other face to face, the alien patient known as"prot" is psycho-analysed by the doctor known as Dr Powell, who isintent on proving to prot that his claims of coming from a distantplanet are nothing more than a result of his insanity or falsedelusions. However, prot is not an ordinary patient. First off, he ismuch more intelligent than Dr Powell is and most important of all, heis convincing in what he claims to be and where he claims to come from.After a few sessions of psycho-analysing, Dr Powell is no longer surewhat to believe in and what not to believe in. But there is one way tofind out once and for all..Prot claims that he will be beaming back toK-Pax on July the 25th and he will be able to take one person from thehospital with him..The ultimate testament to his claims lies here..ifhe goes back to k-pax, then he was indeed an alien..if not, then he isjust an ordinary human being exhibiting confirmed signs of delusionarybehaviour.. But when the time comes, does he succeed even if his bodyis lying on the floor unconscious when he should have gone??? Judgingfrom what i have read in this forum, there seems to be some unnecessarycontroversy as to whether or not prot was an alien..The answer issimple..yes! he was an alien...the reasons are as follows:1. His ability to see wavelengths of light up to 300angstroms...impossible for a human being.. 2. His astounding level ofknowledge and understanding of the planetary systems in theconstellation lyra..something which even the best astrophysicistsfailed to understand?? 3. His ability to accurately interpret DrPowell's dog's barking sounds??? 4. His ability to add spirit to thepreviously pesimistic hospital environment by curing the patients bymaking them cure themselves??? 5. And last but not least, His abilityto beam back to K-Pax..This is evidenced by the fact that bess wasmissing from the hospital..she could not have escaped because she was asolitary patient who never had a history of escape attempts orregulatory infractions..why would she escape at the same time when protwas heading back to k-pax????..Although it is clear that prot was an alien, this is not the focalpoint of the movie.. This movie is about change..it is about making anew start with the people we love but were never able to do sobefore..it is about doing what we "believe" is right and acknowledgingthat this is the only time we have to make ammendments because themistakes we make in life will be repeated forever...its aboutunderstanding our duties in our world and taking liability for them...Hope this helped guys...I rate this movie a 7..

2012-04-27 06:56:53

To Be or Not to Be........

Some people have complained that this movies ending is ambiguous and the director doesn't tell the audience whether Prot is really from K-Pax or just the delusional Robert Porter. It's true, but that's what I found so fascinating about the movie and it's premise.The story stars two of my favorite actors, Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges. They put on these roles like a comfortable pair of shoes and it isn't long before we feel we've known them for years. Every actor brings their best work to the show and you can't help but be interested and drawn into the story. Whether you believe Prot is real or Robert Porter is just a very tortured man, there are plenty of ambiguities for everyone.I usually like a movie to be tied up nicely and all the loose ends resolved by the time the credits role. K-Pax is the exception. I appreciated the director laying out the wonderful story with its drama, humor and sadness and letting us draw our own conclusions based on the events as they unfold. Whatever conclusion you arrive at, K-Pax will entertain you with its intelligent script, wonderful actors and must have music.

johnblox 2012-04-27 09:06:37

Exactly what a great 'movie' should be

Watching this a day after watching 'panic' room I am still absolutelybaffled that they have a very similar rating. This film deserves 10/10 asopposed to negative 10/10 for panic room. Anyway I think the first commenton imdb sums up the film well. What is maybe more interesting thanre-commenting on the film are the following comments, where people commenton the inaccuracy of its portrayal of a mental ward? and other absurdthings. ALL MOVIES ARE FICTION. Even those based on fact especially whenmade by hollywood. In fact if hollywood got a chance every invention, heroicdeed and advance of man would be down to the Americans, I digress. I adviseyou to ignore all negative comments as it is a fantastic film in terms of'you watch it, you are engrossed from start to end and leave with a greatfeeling in your stomach and go away telling people to go and see it'. Any'loose ends' are minimal not the gaping holes of unbelievability in otherfilms. I just wish hollywood would spend more time getting decent scriptslike this before they pump $millions into movies. Also unlike most hollywoodfilms you don't get that moment 2/3 through where you realise they got boredand just wanted to pad it out to some/any conclusion, no it is great fromstart to end.

jkchou 2012-04-26 16:27:36

Not what I was expecting.

While watching the preview of this movie, I imagined an insightful Sci-Fiwork that parallels such great movies like Contact or the Arrival. But thismovie was not exactly what I was hoping for. Spoiler: As expected, the movie's plot line dangles between "so, is he fromouter space or not," much like in Contact, where the question was "so, didshe really go or not" to keep the audience interested. But, in Contact, thequestion was more significant in that her question involved the theologicalconflict between science and religion, the contests between the governmentand a nemesis billionaire, and the treachery of human selfishness. Incontrast, Prot's influence never seeped out of the psychiatric ward. His"benevolence" was only felt by a small group of crazed people. This elementalone makes "the question" in K-Pax less significant, and lessexciting. Also, it was quite surprising that after Prot dramatically demonstratedhis knowledge (perhaps the highest point in the entire more), which proved(at least to me) that he is from outer planets, that nothing was done aboutit (also seemed strange to me that they never asked Prot to simply get fromone side of the room to the other side of the room in light speed, whichcould have proven his ability to travel faster than light). Maybe it was thephilosophy of the writers to shy away from MIB or ID4 type of alienextravaganza, but I was expecting a whole new plot line after that point,something that would parallel the story line of the Arrival, where the"real" reason of why he is here is discovered (they also never made quiteclear why he would come to Earth). My point is that the second half couldhave been much more exciting (and believable) than just watching Prot lockedup in the ward, figuring out if he is telling the truce from hypnosis whenthe whole world could be changed by Prot's knowledge. Maybe it was because I had a preconception of the movie, but I findmyself not intellectually satisfied when the movie ended. This movie strikesme more like a "One Flew over Cuckoo's Nest" with a spaceman in it. Its nota bad movie. Just not as good as I had hoped.

Geoff 2012-04-24 01:54:41

A brilliant, thought provoking film

Possible SpoilersAhh...another of the "nutter" movies I hear you say...We've had quite anumber of them from One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest To Girl, InterruptedandA Beautiful Mind. Whilst they were all brilliant in their own ways, andCuckoo's Nest and Girl, Interrupted were also quite similar, K-Pax holdsitsown, and is less about the institution as it is a character play betweenKevin Spacey (Prot) and Jeff Bridges (Dr. Mark Powell).The basic premise is this: At the beginning of the movie, Prot "appears"inthe middle of grand central station and witnesses a bag snatch. When hetries to help the lady, the police question him, and then proceed to takehim to belview (a mental institution) in the belief that he is mad. Fromhere he ends up at a different institution under the care of Dr. MarkPowell, who sums up his character quite well with the quote to hissecretary"Who is it this time? Jesus or Joan of Ark?". But, as you soon discover,Prot has a few surprises of his own, as he and Mark interact, both thedoctor, and the viewer, are left wondering if it could actually bepossiblethat he's telling the truth, and that he's really fromK-Pax.The acting in this film is second to none, with Kevin Spacey solidifyinghisposition as an A+ actor, and Jeff Bridges proving that he has many a trickstill up his sleeve.The longer that Prot stays, the more changes that start occuring in thepsychiatric institute. The patients mental health improves. And Prot giveshis views on life as it is in K-Pax.It is a movie of many levels. First it is a great character piece betweentwo of the most exceptional actors around today. Secondly it is a movieabout a psychiatric institution and how there is hope even for the most"hopeless" of cases, and that one should never give up. Thirdly, it is amovie to make you wonder...wonder about what other life forms there maybe,and wonder if we could be talking to someone who is from somewhere elseandnot even know it.And the ending is one of the best i have seen from a mainstream hollywoodpicture in a long time, as you are left to discover for yourself what thetruth is, without having it wrapped up for you by the picture.All in all, K-Pax is a brilliant film that i would highly reccommend toeveryone. See it now!

BJBatimdb 2012-04-23 16:45:39

less than the sum of its parts

Don't be fooled by Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges' inclusion in thismovie - it's only average.It's pretty slow and there are some big plot holes and failures oflogic. The director tries his best to make a film that is basically twotalking heads visually stimulating, but he can't hide the fact thatthis is a very slight story with not much to say. Loose ends are manufactured rather pointlessly, and then onlyjust tied up in quite unsatisfying ways (for example, Bridges'character's marriage problems seem to just shrivel up and diewith him hardly making any effort at all; and the character of Bess -which could have been pivotal - is instead totally one-dimensional);It's barely funny and sentimental rather than moving. Not bad if youdon't mind not being engrossed in a movie, but I kept feeling therewere missed opportunities for real humour and pathos in thescript.This movie left me with the feeling, not of wonder about the futurebut that anything interesting connected with these charactershappened before film begins.