A seemingly crazy homeless man named Prot (Kevin Spacey) is picked up by the authorities in Grand Central Station and is taken to a mental institution in Manhattan, where he's seen by Dr. Powell (Jeff Bridges). The Doctor tries to get Prot to admit that he's not really and alien-and Prot's obscure knowledge of the galaxy slowly begins to convince Powell that he may indeed be a visitor from another planet. OF course, this back and forth 'is he an alien?' continues until the last five minutes of the movie-but it's pulled off well. Although the story has been done before and the movie itself is rather like an amalgam of 'STARMAN & THE FISHER KING' (in which Bridges also starred), it still works. The acting is the thing here-very good performances by Bridges and Spacey.
A seemingly crazy homeless man named Prot (Kevin Spacey) is picked up by the authorities in Grand Central Station and is taken to a mental institution in Manhattan, where he's seen by Dr. Powell (Jeff Bridges). The Doctor tries to get Prot to admit that he's not really and alien-and Prot's obscure knowledge of the galaxy slowly begins to convince Powell that he may indeed be a visitor from another planet. OF course, this back and forth 'is he an alien?' continues until the last five minutes of the movie-but it's pulled off well. Although the story has been done before and the movie itself is rather like an amalgam of 'STARMAN & THE FISHER KING' (in which Bridges also starred), it still works. The acting is the thing here-very good performances by Bridges and Spacey.
