Verdict
Summary
Part Starman and part Awakenings, K-Pax was a real sleeper of a film when I saw it (twice) theatrically in 2001 (it was released shortly after 9/11), but what’s miraculous about it is that its potency hasn’t diminished at all in the 25 years since.
Plot:
A man claiming to be from another planet is thrown into a psychiatric facility where a psychiatrist is flummoxed by how convincing he is.
Review:
Showing up seemingly out of nowhere, a man calling himself Prot (Kevin Spacey wearing Bono’s sunglasses) gets the attention of some beat cops, who don’t buy his story about being from outer space, and so they escort him to a psychiatric facility where he stays for a month until he’s finally handed over to a clinical psychiatrist named Powell (Jeff Bridges) who sits him down and assesses him. With perfect, unwavering clarity and rationality and an uncommon amount of articulate intelligence, Prot explains that he is a visitor from a planet called K-Pax from a distant galaxy and arrived on Earth in a beam of light and is here simply to observe and report to his fellow K-Paxians. Over the course of several months, Powell is totally flummoxed by Prot, and it’s not just Powell who falls under his spell, but all of his other patients in the psychiatric treatment facility and his colleagues. Prot has an extraordinary ability to read the room and convey with facts his claims, which convinces esteemed astrologers and astrophysicists as well. Is Prot an alien? Or is he just a very convincing delusional? When Powell puts Prot under hypnosis, he discovers a clue, which leads the doc on a journey of discovering some devastating facts about the identity Prot may be running from, or are there actually two individuals in his body? With a ticking timetable forcing Powell to up his game, Prot makes it very clear that he’ll be returning to K-Pax, which sends the entire psych ward into a frenzy because Prot offers a one-way ticket to K-Pax for one passenger, but whom will he choose if indeed he is who he says he is?
Part Starman and part Awakenings, K-Pax was a real sleeper of a film when I saw it (twice) theatrically in 2001 (it was released shortly after 9/11), but what’s miraculous about it is that its potency hasn’t diminished at all in the 25 years since. Very well cast with a bewitching Spacey in the oddball role (but not nearly as oddball and unique as Bridges was in Starman), the film is deeply affecting and entrancing, as we’re never quite sure Spacey’s character is indeed a visitor from beyond or not … until the end. Finely directed by Iain Softley and nicely scored by Edward Shearmur, this one is completely underrated and always will be. Discover it!
Kino Lorber brings K-Pax to Blu-ray in a solid high definition transfer, and it comes with an audio commentary by the director, a making-of feature, a collection of photographs by Jeff Bridges from the set, an alternate ending, and promotional material, including trailers, storyboards, and deleted scenes, plus a slipcover.
