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| Monday, December 1st
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| Movie Forums :: Reviews :: K-PAX: The Best Intentions... |
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Posted on 11/08/01
K-PAX: The Best Intentions...
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"K-PAX" had the makings of an excellent movie. It had excellent actors who shine in their roles, an excellent premise that could make for some great storytelling, and there was a lot of positive interest generated from the previews. But then something happened. Somehow, somewhere, someone messed up the story; and for that the movie fails.
"K-PAX" was supposed to be a story about a mysterious psychiatric patient named Prot (Kevin Spacey) who claims he is from another planet. New York's top Psychiatrist Dr. Mark Powell (Jeff Bridges), ultimately becomes the patient when his discussions with Prot give him insight into what's wrong in his own life. The story ends with Prot mysteriously disappearing and Dr. Powell rediscovering his own life.
Now that's a great story; too bad they messed it up. "K-PAX" has a lot in common with "The Sixth Sense," and, whatever you may think, the main character in that movie is not Haley Joel Osment. The main character is Bruce Willis. Haley's character is too flat and does not go through any major changes. "The Sixth Sense" is about a psychiatrist who is killed and doesn't realize he is a ghost until his experience with a child who can see ghosts finally brings the revelation. It's pretty much the same general premise as "K-PAX," except in "The Sixth Sense" they did it much better. In "K-PAX," instead of focusing on Dr. Powell, as they should have done, they focused on Prot, and the major dilemma of the film is whether or not Prot is actually an alien. It's more of a detective story than a look into the human spirit. They should have done what the creators of "The Sixth Sense" did and focus more on the redemption of the psychiatrist.
Another thing that they misplaced focus on is the interactions between Prot and the other psychiatric patients. While they are cute and entertaining, especially considering the acting was superb, such interactions ultimately steal precious development time from the main plotline.
Overall "K-PAX" was very episodic. The movie was filled with various entertaining episodes that really did nothing for the overall story as a whole. In this aspect its almost like "Forrest Gump" in that you really could start watching at any point and still enjoy the "episode" you are currently in. The only difference is that while this was done on purpose in "Forrest Gump," in "K-PAX" it seems to be the result of inept writers.
The one thing that really shines in "K-PAX" is the technical aspects. "K-PAX" is a real planet and pretty much everything Prot describes about his planet (except of course for the intelligent life and technology) is real. So you'll walk out of the movie with some new knowledge about our solar system. The parts where he was explaining about the location of his planet were actually among my favorites because I knew that it was a real planet before seeing the movie, so I kept marveling at how much research the writer must have done.
If you want to know if you would like "K-PAX" then take "The Sixth Sense" and get rid of all the foreshadowing and the ending so that it's a story about a living psychiatrist helping a boy cope with his gift. If you'd like that version of "The Sixth Sense" then you'd like "K-PAX," which is about a psychiatrist trying to discover the truth about a patient, as opposed to a movie about a psychiatrist who, in his effort to discover the truth about a patient, discovers the truth about himself. It's a lukewarm movie, and while it is certainly entertaining, and maybe even worth it for the chance to watch Kevin Spacey in a good role, it's not a movie I'd recommend. If you really feel like seeing it in the theatres, do so. If you had some other movie in mind you might want to try that one instead; you can always rent "K-PAX."
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