Product Description

AN AMUSING STORY OF A MYSTERIOUS STRANGER WHO DEFIES CONVENTION, PUZZLES THE EXPERTS, AND LEAVES EVERYONE GUESSING RIGHT UP TO THE END.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5504 in DVD
• Brand: Universal
• Released on: 2002-03-26
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 120 minutes

Amazon.com
Based on a novel by Gene Brewer, K-PAX works best as an adult drama of self-discovery, blessed by the talents of costars Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey. Bridges plays Manhattan psychiatrist Mark Powell, who thinks he's seen it all until he's assigned to analyze Prot (Spacey), a psychiatric patient who claims to be from a distant planet called K-PAX. Powell is convinced that Prot is "a convincing delusional," but his cynicism turns to open-minded fascination as Prot's case reveals a combination of otherworldly insight and all-too-human trauma, prompting an earthbound explanation for Prot's allegedly alien origins. As directed by Ian Softley (Wings of the Dove), this curiously engrossing drama allows Spacey to create a provocative and humorously eccentric enigma, while Bridges superbly conveys his character's compassionate empathy. Their finely shaded performances raise K-PAX above the forced ambiguity of its ending, which is both thought-provoking and vaguely anticlimactic. --Jeff Shannon

From The New Yorker
As a creature named Prot who may have dropped in from another planet, Kevin Spacey has a good moment with a dog, kneeling down with the frisky beast and interpreting its barks as speech. But that's about it. What should have been spooky fun is mainly soft-brained and painstakingly earnest. Jeff Bridges, looking about thirty pounds heavier than usual, plays a workaholic psychiatrist who cannot figure out whether Prot is truly an alien or just a head case. Meanwhile, Prot liberates all the bedraggled psychotics who live in the mental ward with him. The director, Iain Softley, uses the lunatics as a kind of comic chorus-an offensive idea masquerading as daring humanism. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Prot: Alien or Delusional Human?
This was one of those powerful movies that I "took personally"--especially since the blue jay is my totem and the blue jay figures a prominent role in this movie.

Kevin Spacey plays a psychiatric patient named Prot--but Prot claims he's really an alien from the planet K-PAX. Jeff Bridges plays Prot's psychiatrist and is convinced that Prot is delusional. But the Doctor's cynicism soon turns into fascination. Could Prot possibly be an alien? Or is there a perfectly logical, "earthly" reason for Prot's belief that he's an alien?

I don't want to give away any plot points, but this movie is thought provoking and utterly fascinating. You'll be scratching your head at the end--but a part of you will "get" it even if your mind does not. Some mystical themes I enjoyed in this movie is the existence of aliens, the possible messages of aliens, the power of belief in something beyond yourself, and the power of the mind.

Absolutely spell-binding movie!
This is one of the few sci-fi type of films that I enjoy, and is my favorite Kevin Spacey movie, period. Its a movie that leaves you feeling like a different person than you were before you saw, and I highly recommend it.

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.