Universal Pictures
Director: Iain Softley
IMDB link

When a Kevin Spacey movie wants attention, it will get it. I kept seeing this movie plugged everywhere - tv trailers, talk shows, signs, you name it. Standard movie advertising fare. What made it stand out from all the ad noise today was two things:

• Kevin Spacey - brilliant actor, wonderful performances, a man who can make you leave a show going Damn, even though you've already seen the movie a couple times.
  
  
• The trailers were actually not counterproductive to the moviegoing experience. They outlined the premise but still left a What the fuck? factor in, so that you'd actually have a reason to go see the flick.

The first thing I noticed about the movie was that the opening score was damn good. It set a good tone, and went into the beginning of the movie like a smooth mix-set. At that point, the movie jumps right into it's premise - a man who calls himself Prot (Kevin Spacey) is in a psych ward for thinking he's a man from another planet called "K-PAX". While the doctor assigned to him, Dr. Mark Powell (Jeff Bridges), works to find out who he really is and break his delusion, Prot sets the other patients towards their own self-healing. Prot's presence in Powell's life even spurs Powell's own rehabilitation - in this case of a neglectful family man who places far too much priority on work.

This is a story about a deus ex machina in a modern-day setting of open distrust and skepticism. The fact that its the patients who believe Prot's story goes to further damage his credibility by the authorities, but he gives his would-be denouncers reason to think that he more than some crazy wino. The director parallels this trust-skepticism tug with the audience by going back and forth between proof that he is a "K-PAXian" and that he is just a convincing delusional.

In some ways, the truth is irrelevant. Prot, whoever he may be, does succeed it turning everyone's world upside-down and showing them new truths. Prot could easily parallel Jesus or Buddha (both whom he mentioned early on in the movie for being forward-thinking), complete with miracles (some of which can be "explained", and some which defy explanation), wisdom to share, and followers. Even if he were just a man, he is definitely no ordinary man.

However, it would also be too depressing if the movie ended as such. The ending is rather clever, and does well to take care of the fact that there is strong evidence in favor of both arguments regarding the nature of Prot. You won't find plot holes you could fly a beam of light through in this film.

It is a movie definitely worth seeing. The story is good, Spacey's performance is top-notch, and even the soundtrack is worth checking out.