Jeff Bridges has already explored the comical worlds of the insane. (Rent The Fisher King). Kevin Spacey has already taught us to savor every moment of our lives. (Hint: You own this movie on DVD). So why have they given us K-PAX, a rehash of old themes which fails to transcend the formula?

By creating a sense of wonder with overly bright photography, director Iain Softley quickly draws in his audience with an intriguing opening to his film. Spacey stands with a beatific smile on his face, framed by the light within the bustle of a train station. An alien from distant planet K-PAX, Prot (Spacey) has arrived in Manhattan to experience Earth...or is he merely delusional?

Spacey, having told a policewoman of his alien origins, is naturally taken for insane and processed into the New York mental health bureaucracy. There he encounters Dr. Mark Powell (Bridges), the one person who might believe his fantastic tale of travel on a beam of light. The film settles into its story during the first interview between Bridges and Spacey, notable only for Spacey’s light touch with physical comedy (there’s a running gag involving fruit). The other residents in the hospital, ranging from the self-absorbed Amanda Wingfield-type to a fat guy who thinks everyone stinks, are also introduced to the fascinated alien. It is at this point that the outsider begins solving everyone’s problems.

A short way into the story, K-PAX finds itself with nowhere to go. Spacey’s alien is buddha-like in his effortless self-satisfaction, but though his smiles are charming, they are a poor substitute for a central character with a compelling purpose. Bridges’ doctor is meant to be the center of the action, but he appears to have little motivation. The duo’s therapy sessions are reduced to casual conversations about the planet K-PAX, and the doctor comes off as a lonely man who wants to chat rather than a man on a mission to discover the truth about his patient’s origins. Charles Leavitt’s script plods along with scenes so predictable that not even the soulful Alfre Woodard can give her character any juice.

The problem lies in what is supposed to be the real mystery of the movie. Spacey’s possible insanity is meant to be an ambiguity, but works only as well as the attempted ambiguity concerning Kevin Kline’s sexual preference in In & Out. The audience has already figured it out in the first few frames of the movie and is ready to move on. There is hardly room to shock people with a Keiser Soze ending.

Another fault that emerges by the middle of the film is that there is no reason to care about the characters. They haven’t done anything to win the audience over. The graceless exposition is a series of short takes, just long enough to reveal relevant facts about Bridges’ family issues, Spacey’s good heart and the various personalities of the patients in quick succession. Rarely do the characters interact meaningfully, and they don’t seem to have much at stake as they follow the premise of the movie to its conclusion.

The lack of fine performances in K-PAX is not the fault of its actors. The movie dies despite some talented people. The premise of an alien coming to Earth should provide endless opportunities for laughs and endearing moments, especially with such a fine character actor as Spacey in the role. But the role that catapulted Robin Williams to stardom on TV’s “Mork and Mindy” and flattered John Lithgow’s comic persona on his (now cancelled) sitcom “Third Rock from the Sun” gives Spacey no good one-liners or memorable scenes. The character only shines during moments involving physical comedy, where the script can’t get in the way.

Bridges also manages to be his lovable self, but neither of his character’s relationships really click. Nothing much develops out of his interactions with Spacey, and he runs into other problems involving his relationship with his beautiful wife (Mary McCormack). They are having marital problems, but husband and wife aren’t even trying to make nice. The unfortunate lack of chemistry between them is even more obvious when they inevitably reunite, a change of heart brought about by everyone’s favorite alien.

Ultimately K-PAX seems like a remake of a movie we have all seen several times. A wise but funny outsider walks into our lives and makes us all realize how much we love each other. It just so happens that this time it is because there are no families on K-PAX, so we on Earth need to appreciate ours an extra lot. The theme becomes annoyingly obvious, and actors must resort to their ample stores of charm to make the tying together of loose ends seem plausible. Despite some poignant moments and a unique treatment of light which adds some nice mood to the film, K-PAX ends before it ever has a chance to get up to speed.

K-PAX

directed by

Iain Softley