October 28, 2001 -- Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey stars as a possible alien from another world (or a nut case) in "K-PAX" a thoughtful film about the nature of memory and reality. This is science fiction without all the special effects, sort of like the old film starring David Bowie "The Man Who Fell to Earth."

Spacey shows up at a psychiatric hospital claiming to be Prot, a being from the world K-PAX, located in the constellation Lyra. He says he has traveled to earth using rays of light, and tachyons (theoretical particles with strange properties like negative mass and speeds faster than light). Asked by his psychologist, Dr. Mark Powell (played by Jeff Bridges of "The Contender"), how he was able to travel faster than light and overcome the limitations imposed by Einstein's theory of relativity, he notes that the theory of relativity states that particles cannot accelerate past the speed of light. Tachyons (there is actually no evidence to prove that Tachyons exist; see the CSIOCP link below), on the other hand, already are traveling faster than light when they are created, at least in the world according to Prot.

Powell later asks a physicist friend of his if he knows of any missing astronomers, thinking that Prot might be one. Prot is so convincing in his delusion, that Powell takes him to meet with a group of astronomers to talk about K-PAX. Prot confounds the astronomers and he confounds Powell, but that doesn't discourage the good doctor from trying to find Prot's real identity. Part of the problem is that physical tests on Prot show him to be human, not alien. So Powell keeps searching for Prot's "true" identity. This search takes Powell to another state, where he learns what may be Prot's real name and the terrible tragedy which explains his current condition. The film walks a tightrope of these two explanations, alien or crazy. Except for one telling scene (see the spoiler below), it balances pretty well.

The real story lies elsewhere, however. We see Powell at home with his wife and kids, and he barely pays attention to his family. He is also estranged from his young son. That's right, it is the old patient curing the doctor trick. Powell gains a new appreciation for his own life and family through his interaction with Prot. As one would expect, Prot also has a profound effect on the other patients in the ward. These are the typical patients one finds in films like "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," "28 Days," etc.

There aren't too many surprises here. Neither the doctor, nor his patients are all that interesting. One guy is interesting, however, and that is Prot, thanks to another great performance by Kevin Spacey. As his alien persona, Prot is very serene, detached from the worries and emotions of human existence, except in certain intriguing circumstances. Prot seems to give us a convincing view of humans from the point of view of an observer who is detached from, but intrigued by, humanity. His message is a simple one: seize the day, because you only get one chance to take charge of your life. The message also seems to be to appreciate what you have, for it is very rare in this universe. Director Iain Softley ("Wings of the Dove") does a nice job with the story and cinematographer John Mathieson ("Gladiator"), adds some nice touches, too. It is not a bad movie. It rates a C+.

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In response to a question by astronomers, Prot produces a chart of the K-PAX solar system, complete with binary suns and numerous moons, that just happens to exactly account for the gravitational perturbations observed in the orbits of those stars by the astronomers. These variations in star orbits, by the way, were known only to a handful of astronomers in the world. If you happen to know anything about astronomy or physics, then this part of the movie actually provides a definitive answer to the question of who Prot really is.