Spacey spins a psycho story

Sometimes, when you're watching a movie, you have to be a little forgiving about how far-fetched it is. For a movie like "K-PAX" to work, that kind of mentality is needed before you enter the theater. Some less forgiving viewers might find "K-PAX" a tad over-dramatic and pretentious, but there are some interesting themes and issues existing somewhere beneath the surface. \nProt (Kevin Spacey) is admitted to the Psychiatric Institute of Manhattan. He's a very quiet and harmless man, but he insists to Dr. Mark Powell (Jeff Bridges) that he's not human, but merely an alien visiting Earth. He comes from the planet K-PAX, a thousand light years away. Powell thinks Prot is insane but gradually is led to rather convincing evidence that makes him motivated to discover Prot's origin. Of course, the question of the film is whether Prot is really an alien from another part of the galaxy or whether he's insane and has a horrible past. \nProt is a role made for Spacey. He's meant for it. Bridges' performance is adequate, but his contrasting normalcy to Prot's odd behavior is simply there to make Spacey's performance look good. And it does. \nThe movie's central theme is concerned with the value and significance of the family and human contact in everyday society. We see Prot's character interacting with other patients, which at times is very pretentious, but at other times, is quite wonderful. We also see Mark putting obvious priority on his job over his family, and Prot even tells him "You should really look at your own planet and life." \nThe end is barely acceptable for its melodrama, but the truth about Prot's origin isn't blatantly revealed and that saves it from being over-the-top. That is one thing I liked about this film that I can't say about many other films. It doesn't insult your intelligence. It leaves things opened for interpretation, whether we are interpreting what exactly happened or trying to figure out what the film has to say to us. Despite a few flaws, the film is very enjoyable to watch and I'd recommend it to anybody who needs a little entertainment escapism.