K-PAX 2001

Critics score:
41 / 100

Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes

Bruce Newman, San Jose Mercury News: K-PAX succeeds most often when it isn't blinded by the light of its own cosmic message. Its creators have apparently decided to embrace that message, seizing the moment -- and full credit -- with both hands. Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: Everything about K-PAX seems to have been manufactured at Have a Blessed Day, Inc. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Gloppy and touchy-feely. Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: Spacey and Bridges are so good -- and so good together -- that they keep the options and explanations open right up to the movie's bittersweet end. Read more

Ebert & Roeper: Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Flawed script turns well-acted K-PAX into a near miss. Read more

Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News: K-PAX never attains the soulful heights its makers obviously sought. But it's still worth a visit. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: A draggy, earnest exercise in pseudo-spiritual uplift, recycling romantic hokum about extraterrestrial life and mental illness with wide-eyed sincerity. Read more

Cody Clark, Mr. Showbiz: Shows signs of intelligent life. Read more

Jan Stuart, Newsday: A syrupy melange of psychobabble and extraterrestrial mystery, offering further proof that planet Hollywood is made of cheese, with lots of holes. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: These looney tunes from Kevin Spacey have been heard before. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: If K-PAX's conclusion is a bit too glib, too pat for what it's trying to do, it's an honorable attempt to create a thoughtful entertainment, and it's got the kind of acting worth visiting from another planet to experience. Read more

Paul Clinton (CNN.com), CNN.com: Inspirational and profoundly moving. Read more

Steven Rosen, Denver Post: Its conflict is so understated, and takes so long to engage us, that the film is as flat as a stretch of Interstate 70 east of Denver. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: I rather like the whole mystic- crystal-revelations aspect of K-PAX. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: It's pure pleasure to witness Kevin Spacey commanding the screen, and Jeff Bridges ain't exactly a rank amateur. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: Read more

Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle: As billowy as a pillow. Read more

Peter Rainer, New York Magazine/Vulture: Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: As a brainless laugh riot, it's as funny as a flu epidemic. As a drama, it's an unintentional Robin Williams vehicle sour beyond its shelf life. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Manages to intrigue without overplotting and uplift without overmanipulating. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: I admired how the movie tantalized us with possibilities... Read more

Charles Taylor, Salon.com: It's hard to see how K-PAX could be made any better than it is. Read more

Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle: Spacey rings all the right emotional bells as well, and could probably score another Oscar for playing Prot. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: As a pop parable of heavenly reassurance and redemption, Ian Softley's K-PAX is probably the kind of entertainment the movie industry refers to when it promises gentler, feel-good fare in light of current anxieties. Read more

Geoff Andrew, Time Out: Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: A queasy amalgamation of Awakenings, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Starman. Read more

Robert Koehler, Variety: Read more

Dennis Lim, Village Voice: The specter of Robin Williams looms large. Read more