In a year of cinema dominated by dreck like "A.I." and "Planet of the Apes," jaded science-fiction fans no doubt perked up when hearing of "K-Pax," a promising-looking example of the sub-genre starring none other than Kevin Spacey.
The devotees figure Spacey is precisely the guy to flog a bit of life into the if-not-dead-at-least-comatose horse of Hollywood sci-fi. Hell, just take a look at some of the jewels on the man's rÇsumÇ - "Glengarry Glen Ross," "The Usual Suspects," "L.A. Confidential" "American Beauty." Surely, with Kevin Spacey - not to mention the ever-dependable Jeff Bridges - on board, "K-Pax" figures to be an unconventional, intelligent science-fiction story. Right?
Well, one out three ain't bad these days, and this same description could easily apply to "K-Pax." For those of you expecting another seminal big screen space trip, a madcap romp through time and/or space or even a quieter, gentler tale like "Brother from Another Planet" or "The Quiet Earth," forget it. Spend that $8 on rentals of "Star Trek II-IV."
For those of you wishing to break the doldrums of the inane predictably and tepid plotlines of the American movie industry, circa 2000-2001, you too are mostly out of luck. The acting's good, sure, but you knew that already.
As far as the movie's specifics, "K-Pax" refers to a planet about 1,000 light-years away. Spacey is a citizen of said planet far, far away and goes by the name of Prot - that's pronounced "Prote," incidentally, proving that K-Paxians have English-like exceptions to the rules of spelling.
Prot, like so many lucky cinematic aliens, arrives mostly unnoticed. Unfortunately, he makes the mistake of spilling his origins to a couple of New York cops - you'd think that, since these aliens are so advanced, one or two of them might figure that claiming extra-terrestrial origin still makes you a bit exceptional here on Earth - and lands in Bellevue.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
We're later told that poor ol' Prot has spent a month there, but since that hospital apparently doesn't employ any docs with the star power of a Jeff Bridges, this E.T. gets a transfer to the stately Psychiatric Institute of Manhattan where Bridges' Dr. Mark Powell takes him on as a case. Let the snappy dialogue begin!
OK, so the lines Spacey and Bridges are called upon to emote their way through don't exactly make snappy dialogue, but it is, at peak moments, slightly witty banter. Details are hardly necessary. Even the most casual of sci-fi fans knows the drill. We get kooky answers about the wacky world of K-Pax while Prot munches produce in strange ways and refers haughtily to "you humans."
There's no respite from the color-by-numbers predictability of this plot in the usual gang of colorful, mostly harmless mental patients, either. Stop me if you've heard any of these characterizations before: we meet the guy obsessed with germs, the aged belle waiting on a gentleman caller, the guy who says everything stinks - you'd think that the long-suffering psychiatrists inhabiting flicks like "K-Pax" would welcome the sunglasses-sporting dude who merely thinks he's an alien.
In yet another painfully clichÇd line, Prot proclaims of humanity that "it's a wonder you've made it this far." "Contact" told us that aliens peer over broadcast signals from Earth.
The conclusion is that Prot's folks, like many of us down here, have simply seen too many lame Hollywood films.
