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COURTESY PHOTO - Universal
Kevin Spacey loves munching produce and acting spacey in "K-Pax," where he plays a possible alien.
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'K-Pax' tries to be too deep
By Adam Lattman
The Flat Hat
"K-Pax" managed to gross an impressive $6.2 million dollars in its fourth week at the box office. People have been lining up to see this Universal Studios film for almost a month. The reason for "K-Pax's" success is quite simple: hype. In reality, Kevin Spacey traveled several light years to bring boredom back to innocent movie-watchers.
Spacey plays a character who is either delusional or an alien named Prot. Spacey does not deliver a performance at the same level as he did in "The Usual Suspects" or "American Beauty, " but he does do a halfway decent acting job. Director Iain Softly leaves much to interpretation at the end of the film and does do a fair job keeping the audience guessing throughout the movie.
Of the many problems with "K-Pax," is the movie's thin plot. There simply is not enough going on during the movie. Another is its attempt to be philosophical. "K-Pax" tries to give the audience deep, meaningful advice that is simply not that deep.
Jeff Bridges plays Kevin Spacey's workaholic psychiatrist, Dr. Mark Powell. He is having marital problems with his wife Rachel (Mary McCormack), and the audience is supposed to genuinely care whether the two stay together. Instead, the audience winds up rooting for Rachel to leave Mark, a poor father and inconsiderate husband. Softly sets up Mark as a selfish and stubborn man who slowly shows likable qualities throughout the movie. In the end, however, he's still not a sympathetic character.
The movie isn't all that bad, though. "K-Pax," is a mystery, albeit an inconsistent one, and gathering clues keeps the audience's attention. Another positive is McCormack's performance as Rachel. She captures the screen as a person with whom audiences can identify easily. McCormack is most famous for starring opposite Howard Stern in "Private Parts," where she played a similar character. She is destined for stardom after delivering a stupendous performance in "K-Pax. "
"K-Pax" is severely lacking in excitement, interest and whatever else makes a movie not stink as much as "K-Pax. " It is rentable, but not worth the money to see at the theater. It is less than what Americans have come to expect from a Kevin Spacey movie.
Kpax - **
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