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LL RT Pr RCRD BS CN LA PTV IU Un Dp ON Pe ime 0 dV SS oy SR es "WEEKEND STAR" Rf ABR yt me gly i FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2001-9 SCREENING ROOM By John Foote K~-PAX Directed by lan Softely Now in theatres ** Movies that shamelessly manipulate feelings out of their audience annoy me. Audiences are real people with real emo- tions who do not need, nor deserve, to be sucked into feeling something the filmmakers want them to feel. It frus- trates me to no end to see good actors and directors working overtime and far too hard to exert a particular emotion from the audience. Last year it was done in a drama star- ring Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt called Pay It Forward (2000), which milked the emotions and tear ducts of the audience for every everything it could. This year it is K-PAX, a marginally bet- ter film than Pay It Forward, but still shameless in its overall manipulation of the audience. The makers of the film are going for wonder, and it is felt in every frame of the film, which considering the is something of a shame. | mean, the cre- ators of the film might just as well stand at the entrance to each theatre and hand extraordinary talents of the leading men Spacey, Bridges excellent, out a box of kleenex to catch the tears they are so obviously going for. Kevin Spacey, a two-time Academy Award winner for The Usual Suspects (1995) and American Beauty (1999), is Prot, a mental patient who believes him- self to be from the planet K-PAX, having arrived here on a beam of light to study earthlings and enjoy our produce. He is wise, he talks to dogs, and seems to have everything in control, with the exception of this crazy belief. What is truly astounding about Prot is that he seems to have the power to heal broken minds and restore self-confidence in the patients that populate the hospital where he is committed. His doctor, por- trayed by the vastly under-valued Jeff Bridges, does not at first believe his patient's tales, but cannot explain what is happening within the hospital. As usual, Spacey exudes cool, confi- dent charm in the role, something that could also be mistaken for smug arro- gance. He radiates intelligence on the screen in any role, here being no excep- tion, but his part is so obviously tailored to make an impression on the audience it becomes overwhelming. The problem here is that Spacey is portraying less a character than a "thing", or plot device. The actor has some fine moments in the film, but more because he is truly a great ~ actor than for giving a great performance. Matched beautifully against the great Jeff Bridges, the actors bounce off one another magically, but again, are never really given characters to portray. * The ending of the film is ambiguous and meant to be. We are left to form our but K-PAX mostly claptrap own conclusions about where exactly Prot has come from and whether or not his tale is true. It is perhaps the single courageous thing about the film, that they trust the audience to do this. We want Prot to be an alien because that is easier to accept than the fact he is slight- ly mad, and movie audiences, as a rule, do not like their heroes flawed either mentally or physically. Worth seeing for the performances of Spacey and Bridges, but pretty much claptrap. PATTON (1970) directed by Franklin }J. Shaffner Now on DVD (****) Before his death a couple of years ago, I had the immense pleasure of interview- ing George C. Scott on the set of an HBO film about Rocky Marciano. The legendary actor was sitting in his trailer when | was ushered into the vehi- cle, a little worried about the hot tem- pered actor's reactions to my questions. I found him to be delightful, a true actor willing to talk about the art of acting, his past work... anything except Hollywood and his feelings on the industry. We chat- ted about The Hustler (1961), one of his best performances as a crooked pool shark manager, and Islands in the Stream (1975), one of my favourite Scott perfor- mances as a Hemingway-esque writer who becomes involved in war after the death of his eldest son. Eventually the conversation turned to bis greatest screen triumph, Patton (1970), the performance that won him an Academy Award which he refused to accept. Cast as General George S. Patton, Scott commanded the screen with a stunning performance as this contradictive, bril- liant general who went toe-to-toe with Rommell during the Second World War. Ferocious about winning battles, Patton often second-guessed his commanders and simply went ahead to do it his way, which was often right. He had no time for cowards, or men afraid of battle, and was not above slapping them out of their fear if he felt that would work. He possessed a deep belief that he had once been a Roman general, and because he was so good at war he had been reincarnated as another general in another war. ; Twentieth Century Fox has just released Patton on DVD, in a pristine widescreen print, featuring an audio his- tory of Patton, and the original trailer. The film won eight Academy Awards back in 1970, including best picture and best director, standing among the greatest war films ever made. It is certainly among the best movie biographies ever made because the director has the courage to show his char- acter warts and all. You may not like Patton as a person, but you will certainly respect him. | have a hunch there are more than a few military personnel who wish Patton were leading the US troops today. 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