K-Pax [2001] Movie Reviews on CinemaClock

Have you ever wished you could approximate the qualities of light and evolve at the speed of your desire? Have you ever seen your sentiment presented on film only to go home with you in the form of caffeinated chicken-scratch ideas on how youd do a better job on your script because once again, your ideological dream movie didnt get made? Why dont I start by telling you what happened on planet K-PAX and you can judge for yourself whether or not its in your best interests to travel 1000 Light Years to see it. A planet full of vegetarians that think twice before reproducing because the process hurts so much; a species that practices Buddhistic principles of forgiveness and compassion, lives for hundreds of Earth years, and has mastered light travel; each of its members by the time they were 5 have absorbed a cultural common sense a thousand decades ahead of us on Earth: Welcome to Planet K-PAX. An ambitious, inspiring glimpse into the beautiful potential of benign life elsewhere watching over our shoulders and giving us a boost of support when we need it, K-PAX provokes the deepest insecurities and most profound intuitions about our species faltering existence. The latest attempt from Iain Softley (Wings of the Dove, Hackers) aimed for the stars but didnt make it past the stratosphere. Ill point the finger at each of the six producers whose fingerprints are all over Gene Brewers celluloid novel. A script this edgy and brilliant doesnt just spontaneously combust an hour after lift-off for no good reason. Its not clear whether the malfunction began with Charles Leavitts (The Mighty) screenplay, or a disagreement between producers over what would make a palatable ending for the box office. What is clear is that the last 45 (post-hypnosis) minutes bring the trip to the heavens into a disappointing orbit through the biological psycho-comfort we sit through in films like What Dreams May Come and The Green Mile. Its like they tried to get us to believe that the sun really does revolve around the Earth after dedicating the first half of the film to Einsteins theory of general relativity. All the charm and American Beauty of Kevin Spacey cant fix the last two lines of this script denied its proper resolution. They took a liberating ideology, turned it into a function of character, then diminished the role of that character to furnish a just-barely-plausible ending. If Morpheus had turned out to be an Agent, and the entire Matrix became a dream because Neo took the red pill instead of the blueyou understand the betrayal of script Im talking about. Dont get me wrong, K-PAX is worth the thirteen dollars for most. But if American Beauty felt like that needed breath of fresh air, and you love the satisfaction of solving Twelve Monkeys-type plot puzzles, and youre looking for conviction that you really CAN get your script produced, I might save yourself the frustration. Maybe on K-PAX commercial movies fulfill their subversive potential and viewers dont need to clamor for stronger doses to escape their existential condition the way we do. Maybe K-PAXIANS can absorb information radiation and instantly use its evolutionary energy. Of course, I know K-PAX isnt really out there in constellation Lyra its the stuff of human imaginationwhich brings me to my pointK-PAX is right here on Earth. But the Institution of Hollywood is abusing its supply of human imagination in the hopes of attaining the impossible goal of approximating the speed of cinematic light. Instead, if it stopped thwarting the intentions of great screenwriters, it could realize projection of its films at multiple speeds of c'est (see?) , and we could all stop watching great ideas and start living them instead. Kevin Spacey beam me up!