K–PAX

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K–PAX

Rated: PG-13

The Movie

Ending up in a mental institution, a man calling himself 'Prot' (Spacey) claims to be from another planet. Dr Powell (Bridges) is assigned to treat the man's 'obvious' delusion but is baffled by Prot's knowledge of astronomy until hypnosis sessions reveal a dark secret. Uplifting, terrifying, tragic yet still funny, the two leads carry the film with Spacey being particularly mesmerizing as the is-he-or-isn't-he could-be alien.

The Extras

Sadly, the review copy didn't come with Iain Softley's commentary, which is a shame as with only four films under his directing belt, K-PAX is definitely Softley's most accomplished. Neither did it come with the DVD ROM features.

But it did come with the Spotlight on Location. Another exercise in back-slapping, Jeff Bridges is by far the worst culprit. It's good to see, however, that it's slightly more than a glorified trailer as the featurette delves (a little) behind the scenes and even takes a look at the care paid to portraying the mentally ill.

The Deleted Scenes are slightly disappointing. While many elements from the novel don't appear in the film, running over 17 minutes you'd think some would have been filmed. There are a few small cuts that have survived to be included on the disc but the majority are extended versions of scenes from the movie, which isn't the same at all. The Alternative Ending won't satisfy those who were disappointed or confused by the original version: the film still ends ambiguously. For those who were scratching their heads, read K-PAX II: On a Beam of Light.

My favourite extra is the inclusion of some of Jeff Bridges's photographs. Having taken shots of his co-workers on- and off-set for years, if you've never seen his work before (usually made into 1,000 books for friends and charities, and sometimes shown in Premiere magazine), prepare to be amazed. Finally, the inclusion of a Storyboard Comparison of the opening sequence is good to see, but it's too short and it may be greedy to say but I want more!

Terry Richards

One flew over the extra-terrestrial's nest

Cast Kevin Spacey
(interview in this issue)
Jeff Bridges
Alfre Woodard
Director Iain Softley
(interview in this issue)
Year 2001
R1 Duration 121 mins
Screen Ratio 2.35:1
Anamorphic Yes
Audio DTS / Dolby Digital 5.1
Chapters 18
R1 Languages English, French
R1 Subtitles English closed captioned
R1 Release Date March 26
Distributor Universal

"It’s not uncommon in mental facilities for a large numbers of people to believe they’re from distant planets and galaxies and to create scenarios – but none of them can do what Prot does, which is build up an enormous amount of evidence that he really could be from K-PAX.”
Kevin Spacey talks about securing and researching the role of Prot in this issue.

Highlight

Chapter 6 – Twin Solar System:
Determined to find holes in patient Prot's delusion in order to overcome it, Dr Powell has contacted his astronomer brother-in-law and set up a meeting in an observatory. Finding the star around which Prot's home planet of K-PAX allegedly circles, Prot is asked to outline the planet's orbit, which he does… and the results look startlingly accurate, lending further weight to the argument that Prot is from another world!

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Review © Visual Imagination Ltd 2002.
Not for reproduction