Every once in awhile, movie fans need to watch a great "what if?" movie to really get them thinking about extraordinary possibilities. "K-Pax" is exactly that type of movie.For a basic plot summary, "K-Pax" sees Prot (Kevin Spacey) suddenly appear in a train station with seemingly no explanation of how or why. According to Prot himself, he is an extraterrestrial from the planet K-Pax hear to "observe and report" on Earth culture. Predictably, Prot is placed in a mental institution where Dr. Mark Powell (Jeff Bridges) begins to unravel the mystery behind the strange (yet oddly inspiring) Prot.This is a great mystery/drama that will keep you engaged from beginning to end. Director Iain Softley gives the film great pacing and fills it with equal parts human drama, mystery, science fiction, and humor. If you have a single curious bone in your body, you'll quickly get sucked into the quirky Prot character and just how the heck we might be!A quick fair warning though: this is not necessarily the type of movie where all the "answers" are wrapped up in a nice bow for you at the end. It requires a lot of thought and introspection to truly figure out for yourself what you feel the "answer" truly is. I usually dislike those kind of conclusions, but here the subject matter becomes so compelling and fantastic that it makes sense of different interpretations of the preceding events to creep in.Overall, "K-Pax" is a great film for the intellectually curious or those who just love a great human drama mystery. Only those with a very limited imagination will completely dismiss it.

K-Pax (2001): Dir: Iain Softley / Cast: Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges, Mary McCormack, Alfre Woodard, David Patrick Kelly: Kevin Spacey plays Prot who claims to be from the planet K-Pax. Title sounds more like a battery charger than a planet. Anyway, Prot is arrested at the airport when a misunderstanding occurs. Jeff Bridges plays a psychiatrist who is bewildered at Prot's unique style of thinking. Prot really believes who he is and at one point Bridges arranges a meeting with his brother-in-law who is into astronomy. Prot overwhelms them with information that he considers common knowledge on K-Pax. Eventually hypnosis is suggested where crucial information surfaces. Interesting idea lacks payoff and renders to absurdity and an ending that leaves loose ends. Directed by Iain Softley who made the much more absorbing The Wings of the Dove. Despite his best efforts, this film cannot master up a serious note and becomes a joke. Spacey with Bridges are fine actors who cannot save this film. Spacey's psycho babble is laughable at best and the overall mystery is never solved. Bridges is also reduced to a standard straight forward role. His patients are seen merely as fillers. Mary McCormack is flat as Bridges's wife. Routine and often frustrating mind screw that uses its subject matter as a ploy to jerk us around. It is very manipulating in that it answers nothing. Score: 2 / 10

Had never heard of this film before, there wasn't much on TV and I came across it on catch up. Thought it looked reasonably promising and I certainly wasn't disappointed! Prot (Kevin Spacey) is a patient in a psychiatric hospital, whose claims of being a visitor from another planet cause quite a stir amongst the other patients, and capture the interest of psychiatrist Dr.Powell (Jeff Bridges). As the story develops we see the effects of the charismatic Prot on those around him, including hospital staff and particularly Dr Powell.Spacey is just great in this role, giving the character of Prot a depth and charm that makes the viewer really care about him and his story. He's such a fine actor he can make any character believable. Bridges is also very good playing the part of the psychiatrist who finds himself questioning his own beliefs and diagnosis. It's a film with no crashes, bangs or wallops so it probably won't appeal to the action fans (which appear to be in the majority on IMDb) and it's not for those who like a neat and tidy ending. It's thought- provoking, poignant, at times humorous and at other times sad, but it is a very engaging and watchable film. I really liked it and it deserves higher than the 7.4 it has at the time of writing.

This is one of my "Go To" movies when I want to be drawn into it and forget my daily troubles. Kevin Spacey in the lead role plays "Prot" a gentle intelligent man who claims to be from the world called K-Pax. Jeff Bridges plays the intellectual psychiatrist "Dr. Mark Powell". Dr. Powell is a realist who has an answer for most cases that come to him, but Prot presents something that he cannot quite put his finger on it. Dr. Powell takes Prot to his home to interact with his family and the movie makes a twist here showing Prot in a different light. Prot makes friends with everyone, staff and patients at the mental hospital that he was placed into. K-Pax brings this whole experience to a head in the last 20 minutes of the movie entangling the audience in everything that was explained and understood to what was left unbelievable in the movie.