evin Spacey has proven time and time again that he is one of the best actors of his generation. He even has two Academy Awards to prove it.

That being said, “”K-PAX”” is a poor attempt at an intellectual commentary about everyday life and questioning one’s beliefs.

This is not to say that Spacey does not deliver a solid performance with what he was given, but that he should probably think a little harder about what scripts he chooses if he wants any more Oscar consideration in the near future.

“”K-PAX”” is the story of Prot (Spacey), a strange person who police detain at the scene of a mugging after he recalls how bright this planet really is.

Prot is then turned over to Mark Powell (Jeff Bridges), a seasoned psychiatrist determined to treat Prot for what he thinks is delusion.

While in treatment at the psychiatric center, Prot interacts with many of the other patients in the ward, providing some interesting social commentary along with some slight comic relief.

As Prot’s fact-finding mission on Earth nears its end, Powell finds himself questioning his own beliefs in reality as he attempts to get to the bottom of the case.

The film simply falls short in providing the sophisticated social commentary that it appears to strive for. The comic relief is composed of cheesy lines and lame jokes that sometimes elicit snickers of pity. Overall, the script is weak and the performances (aside from Spacey’s) leave something to be desired.

Spacey is above-average in his role. He does a great job of convincing not only Powell, but the audience as well, that he is from another planet. He will not get an Oscar nod for this role, but he is the only reason to watch the movie. Without his performance, this movie would most likely be the most painful two hours of your entire existence.

In the other lead role, Bridges delivers an absolutely awful performance. While he has definitely had his share of great roles in the past, this one is simply not one of them. Mary McCormack was little more than eye-candy in her role as Bridges’ wife. Alfre Woodard was average as Bridges’ boss at the psychiatric hospital.

As far as cinematography and directing, there was simply too much use of light by director Iain Softley. He tried to make light another character in the movie, but the distracting, random use of the element fell far short of what the director most likely intended.

Overall, the movie was not very good. It had potential to be a decent flick, but a poor script couppled with subpar performances make this movie one that should definitely be left to the video store, if not cable television.