The movie -- about a mysterious person who may or may not be an alien -- is a parade of cliches: the saintly alien (e.g., "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial"), the psychiatric patient having a positive effect on the other patients (e.g., "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"), and, of course, the Psychiatric Breakthrough story ("So THAT'S the deep-seated trauma at the bottom of his problem! -- e.g., "The Prince of Tides," "Good Will Hunting," etc.).
The movie is redeemed by the performances. Spacey is fine as Prot, and Jeff Bridges manages to make the cliches of his character (the workaholic who neglects his family) palatable. In addition, the ending remains nicely ambiguous -- the neat solutions may not be solutions at all.
Not a great film, but a good time filler if you don't get too put off seeing the same old ground being tilled one more time.
The movie is redeemed by the performances. Spacey is fine as Prot, and Jeff Bridges manages to make the cliches of his character (the workaholic who neglects his family) palatable. In addition, the ending remains nicely ambiguous -- the neat solutions may not be solutions at all.
Not a great film, but a good time filler if you don't get too put off seeing the same old ground being tilled one more time.