CCC Reviews

K-Pax

Prot is a mental hospital patient who claims to be from the planet K-Pax. His doctor, Mark Powell believes this is just a case of schizophrenia, but Prot has such a descriptive and believable story that it not only makes the other patients wonder but Dr. Powell begins to speculate as well.

Over the years I've become to like just about everything that Kevin Spacey does. Obviously American Beauty but also in LA Confidential and The Big Kahuna were films where I thought Spacey was outstanding. K-Pax is no acception, Spacey is by far the shining point of the movie. But unfortunately, this also means that the surrounding cast isn't nearly as good as him. In American Beauty he had the talent of Annette Bening and Wes Bentley to surround him in. The same can be said with LA Confidential with Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, James Cromwell, Kim Basinger and Danny DeVito. But aside from Spacey, nobody in K-Pax meets the level of the supporting cast of Spacey's past.

While the cast does what they need to do, often times it revolves too much around Jeff Bridges who is merely passable as Dr. Powell. But this mediocre cast does help with the patients of the hospital who work better as a group than solo.

As far as the story is concerned, while nobody is sure where Prot is actually from, Dr. Powell tries to bring things out that might elude to his past. While at times it'll point in one direction, there are twists and actions that prove Powell's theories to not be entirely accurate. Prot's identity remains a mystery to the end, and even then...one can be a bit skeptical as to what actually happened.

I did thoroughly enjoy this movie, just, it could have been better if there were better supporting cast members. Perhaps more like the supporting cast that Robin Williams had for Patch Adams. Spacey is amazing as usual, the story is fairly original but it just has a few shortcomings.

Scores for K-Pax
Slacker711 - - "Lots of fun with an incredible cast, a great re-make."

Cast
Prot - Kevin Spacey
Dr. Mark Powell - Jeff Bridges
Rachel Powell - Mary McCormack
Claudia Villars - Alfre Woolard
Howie - David Patrick Kelly
Ernie - Saul Williams
Sal - Peter Gerety
Mrs. Archer - Celia Weston
Dr. Chakraborty - Ajay Naidu
Maria - Tracy Vilar
Bess - Melanee Murray
Russell - John Toles-Bay
Joyce Trexler - Kimberly Scott
Navarro - Vincent Laresca
Simms - Mark Lawrence
Steve - Brian Howe
Abby - Mary Mara

Crew
Director - Iain Softley
Novel - Gene Brewer
Screenplay - Charles Leavitt
Producer - Lawrence Gordon
Producer - Lloyd Levin
Associate Producer - Gene Brewer
Executive Producer - Robert Colesberry
Executive Producer - Michael Levey
Executive Producer - Susan Pollack
Original Music - Ed Shearmur
Cinematography - John Mathieson
Film Editing - Craig McKay
Casting - Debra Zane