Prot: Kevin Spacey	Dr. Powell: Jeff Bridges
Rachel: Mary McCormack	Dr. Villars: Alfre Woodard
Bess: Melanee Murray	Steve: Brian Howe
Ernie: Saul Williams	Director: Iain Softley

30 Second Bottom Line: A man who claims he's from another planet has vast knowledge of the universe and an affect on other patients at a mental institution. The renowned doctor who treats him starts to suspect that he might be who he says he is. During that investigation, he also learns something else which provides another alternative, which while not heavenly, is just as intriguing.

Story Line: As a homeless man is begging at the Grand Central RR station in New York, he sees Prot (Kevin Spacey) appear from thin air. When police tell him to stand back after trying to assist a woman who just got mugged, they detain him as he claims that he did not arrive by train because he came from another planet.

Soon he is under observation by Dr. Powell (Jeff Bridges) who of course, views his claims of coming from K-PAX, a planet 1,000 light years away, with more than a great deal of skepticism. Two things cause the doctor to view Prot differently than most patients. One is that he seems to be effecting a cure of sorts among the patients at the Psychiatric Institute of Manhattan. A man who is afraid of germs finally removes his facemask and a woman who will not leave her room eventually does. The second thing is that he gives such detailed accounts of outer space that Dr. Powell decides to share that information with a good friend of his who is an astronomer Steve (Brian Howe). When Steve looks at the information, he arranges for some of his colleagues to meet with Prot at a planetarium and soon they believe that he is something beyond a savant.

When Dr. Powell places Prot under hypnosis, he goes back to things that suggests an earthly human past connected with the meat packing industry in a small community somewhere in the United States. Maybe Prot is only a man after all who happens to know lots of other things about the world and universe or - Prot may be an entity from K-PAX who is using the body of this man who worked at a meat factory during his brief visit on Earth.

Tell Me More About It: While the performance of Kevin Spacey was quite good, his portrayal of a person from another planet never quite gripped me with the intensity of Jody Foster in Contact, another film with a similar feel about distant worlds. I always had the feeling that at the end of the movie we would learn just who Prot was. Still, Prot exhibited certain physical symptoms such as a super low heart rate while under hypnosis, a very high tolerance to Thorazine (a One Who Flew Over The Cuckoo type medication), and knowledge of the solar system that would make him a genius, that it became clear that he was not an ordinary person.

While I never understood why Jeff Bridges would merit a best supporting actor nod for The Contender (I'm not saying it was bad, but just not among the best of the year), he could merit one this year for his role as Dr. Powell. The nuances he provides as he learns more and more about Prot is what carries the movie and makes it work.

I even liked the way Prot had fun with clichés such as "have a seat" and "jump right in". Without mocking the person that used them, he certainly gave us pause about our speech patterns. One of my new favorites is "I told him, I said". There is a lot to be said about the smart dialogue in K-PAX that makes it a joy to watch.

Although we have characters in the Psychiatric Institute of Manhattan who we know will change their unique strange behavior because of the presence of Prot, its done so expertly that it compliments rather than detracts from the story of Prot. Just who is he and why is he there? How can he disappear without a trace and reappear just as easily?

After Dr. Powell gets a clue from a pencil which only has a telephone area code on it that Prot dropped, the movie comes to an end by giving you something to ponder as you leave the theater. Is Prot really from another planet? If so, when he visits Earth, is the body we see his own, or does he inhabit the body of a person already on earth?

Prot seems to have an extensive amount of wisdom, which is in great need. It would be hard to argue with Prot that Earth is in the early stages of evolution with an uncertain future. With how we treat each other, it truly is a wonder that we have made the progress that exists in so much of the world.

Kevin Spacey: The Shipping News	Jeff Bridges: The Contender
Mary McCormack: Deep Impact	Alfre Woodard: What's Cooking?
Melanee Murray: Judging Amy -TV	Brian Howe: State and Main
Saul Williams: One True Thing	Iain Softley: The Wings of the Dove