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'Pax' Scripta

Another Day, another script review. Today, our editor John Shea has decided to review K-Pax. The film who finished shooting a few months ago is definitely an Oscar hopeful. Tomorrow, we'll finally have Agent Payne's Road to Perdition script review.

'K-PAX' script review

"I was a bit skeptical of this script when I first picked it up to read. The premise seemed a bit ridiculous and a bit overly familiar as well. Instead I found myself pleasantly surprised by what turns out to be a sharply written story. The script adapts the Gene Brewer novel by the same name. Charles Leavitt wrote the script, revised as of May 1998. Iain Softley (Hackers) will direct the movie with Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey starring.

Jeff Bridges

The story is about Dr. Gene Brewer (Bridges), the acting director of the Manhattan Psychiatric Institute. The hospital's newest patient is a man (Spacey) calling himself Prot (rhymes with goat) who claims to be an alien from the planet K-PAX. Naturally Brewer assumes he's crazy and sets about trying to determine Prot's mental illness. The problem is that Prot shows no signs of illness. As time goes by, Brewer finds it harder and harder to doubt the man's claims of being an alien. He keeps creating tests to trip up Prot and one after another they fail, leaving Brewer baffled and reluctantly having to consider that Prot might be telling the truth.

At the same time, the other patients in the hospital start to improve, seemingly as a result of their time in contact with Prot. He becomes something of a hero to them, further complicating matters for Brewer and threatening his control of the hospital.

Now this seems to resemble movies like Awakenings and Patch Adams but the resemblance is only superficial. The heart of the movie is the interaction between Brewer and Prot. They are both extremely well drawn characters. Their interaction and relationship is well developed and more than a little touching. Brewer is a man who has devoted himself to his profession, somewhat at the expense of his own family. But he isn't the sort of person simply driven by the need to succeed. He genuinely wants to help and make a difference in the world. He rapidly abandons his own pursuit at promotion to invest more time in trying to help Prot.

Kevin Spacey

Prot on the other hand is one giant mystery. He appears to be delusional except for the fact that he is far too smart, coherent and confident in his facts for this to be a figment of his imagination. If he's genuinely delusional then it is one of the most amazing cases of all time. Whether he's actually an alien or not is something you'll have to discover for yourself. The story simply doesn't click as well if you know the truth. As I read the script, my own opinion on which it was flopped back and forth repeatedly.

I suspect that Bridges and Spacey are excellent choices for these roles. I had absolutely no trouble picturing this pair in the movie. Spacey is great at projecting a certain smugness while still seeming genuine. That will be perfect for Prot. Furthermore the role will require a very physical actor who can convey a variety of feelings and impressions by body language alone. For Brewer, think of Bridges recent turn as the President in The Contender crossed with the inquisitive and slightly grumpy nature of The Dude and you'll just about have it.

The mental patients will go a long way in helping to shape the two main characters. You can expect the usual batch of eccentric characters to fill the halls at a mental hospital. But each one is distinct and that keeps them from seeming cliched. The way Brewer and Prot they approach these people and each other from completely angles has a lot to do with what defines these men. It's also what makes their own relationship so fascinating. As Brewer drives himself to the point of exhaustion trying to help Prot, he is simultaneously led to some of the very answers he has looked for in his own life.

I can almost guarantee that people will complain about the movie's ending though. I personally don't think there is anything wrong with it. I found it to be a very elegant way of answering the movie's central question. That said, you can mark my words, some people will bitch about the ending because it doesn't meet their expectations of the story. You just can't please everyone. Thankfully Leavitt didn't try to. With any kind of luck the ending (and the rest of the script for that matter) won't be tinkered with too extensively before going in front of the cameras.

K-PAX was one of the more fascinating and enjoyable scripts that I've read to date. I can only hope that it translates well to the screen. The biggest danger will be in cranking the schmaltz factor up to high. The script uses it only sparingly. As long as the director doesn't try overtly hard to emotionalize the story it should be a fine film featuring two very talented actors."

- John Shea

Stay tuned...

That's all folks...

Jean-François Allaire (aka DeadPool)

Questions, comments, praise etc. Email me at deadpool@tnmc.org

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Jean-François Allaire is TNMC's first columnist. At only 24 years old he has become a respected entertainment journalist, with his columns appearing in Corona's Coming Attractions and Scr(i)pt magazine. He also writes a monthly column in Screenwriters Monthly entitled 'The Last Word.' Hailing from Montreal this young writer is determined to dig up all the details on the movies before they hit your local theater. If you're part of a movie production then you really need to be talking to him.