Word: alienment
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...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...
...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...
...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...
...national ID throws a spotlight on the competing equities of security and freedom. We have always had to find the right path between these two virtues. During wartime, America has a long and not very glorious history of sacrificing liberty in favor of security. John Adams championed the Alien and Sedition Acts during a period of tension with France. Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War. Franklin Roosevelt tolerated the internment of Japanese-Americans during World...