Jordan and McCabe's real triumph here, however, is the tenderness with which they imbues 'Kitten,' and the astonishing grace with which the extraordinary Murphy pulls it off.
Breakfast on Pluto (2005)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:112
Fresh:63
Rotten:49
Average Rating:6.1/10
Consensus: Well-acted if monotonous drama about a transvestite prostitute in London during the 1970s.
Synopsis: Reuniting with writer Patrick McCabe, who co-scripted his acclaimed 1997 film THE BUTCHER BOY, Neil Jordan delivers another entertaining spectacle of a motion picture. Set in the United Kingdom... Reuniting with writer Patrick McCabe, who co-scripted his acclaimed 1997 film THE BUTCHER BOY, Neil Jordan delivers another entertaining spectacle of a motion picture. Set in the United Kingdom during the tumultuous 1960s and ‘70s, BREAKFAST ON PLUTO tells the story of Patrick "Kitten" Braden (an electrifying Cillian Murphy), an orphan from a small Irish town who dreams of escaping his drab surroundings. Though his orphan status is enough to make him an outsider, Patrick's gleeful decision to become the cross-dressing Androgynous Kitten sends him into the outside world for good. He ends up at the trailer home of traveling musician Billy Rock (Gavin Friday), who is hiding weapons used by the IRA in a series of vicious attacks. After an unexpected tragedy, Kitten says farewell to Ireland and heads for the glamorous, rough-and-tumble streets of London, where she faces hatred and hardship in equal measure. Through it all, Kitten somehow retains her unwavering spirit, teaching a valuable lesson about staying hopeful and optimistic in the face of harsh degradation. Murphy's portrayal of the fiercely flamboyant Kitten is a sight to behold. Beautiful as a man, Murphy's appearance takes on an even more ethereal glow as a woman. Adding greater weight to the proceedings are the performances from Jordan regulars Liam Neeson and Stephen Rea, as well as Ruth Negga, Laurence Kinlan, and real-life musician Friday. Filled with a staggering amount of great pop songs from that legendary era, BREAKFAST ON PLUTO is an inspiring ode to individual human spirit. [More]
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Liam Neeson, Laurence Kinlan, Stephen Rea
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Liam Neeson, Laurence Kinlan, Stephen Rea
Director: Neil Jordan
Director: Neil Jordan
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
Reviews for Breakfast on Pluto
Beneath the film's monotony, one senses a whiff of cop-out, of playing it safe: Patrick, for all his tender yearnings, shows no lust, no messy ego. He's a saddened saint in pouffy shirts, and Jordan turns his crying game into one big, long whine.
The movie's drastic shifts in tone sabotage any attempt at sustained emotional engagement.
Breakfast on Pluto dishes out some inspired ideas and brazen performances but as a whole, it's an unwieldy meal.
Murphy's tour de force as the eternally optimistic Patrick surely deserves an Oscar nomination. Thanks to Jordan's bravura storytelling, Breakfast on Pluto is one of very few movies this year truly worth remembering.
Watching Cillian Murphy in drag takes some patience and tolerance but it's actually quite a touching story
It's indulgent, and more than once it's patently unbelievable, but Jordan knows how to make a movie, and it's often lovely to look at.
Neil Jordan's picaresque fairy tale stars Cillian Murphy as an Irish transvestite who is arrested after the bombing of a London disco.
So dense with dying fizzle and limp ideas that I began to wonder if Jordan has an evil twin, or if there are in fact several Neil Jordans, among them at least one literate stylist and one humor-handicapped village idiot.
Neil Jordan's gender-bending again in this picaresque tale of a small-town Irish lad who becomes a transvestite, played by Cillian Murphy, whose versatility is astonishing!
Starts out difficult to like but pays off with hard-won sympathy for a showboating hero/heroine.
Effortlessly nailing coquettish mannerisms and employing a hilarious come-hither vocal quality, Murphy is magnetizing, fascinating, and eminently likeable.
If an eventful life journey doesn't produce maturity or just simple insight, it doesn't feel terribly worth it.
Jordan’s film may seem like the tale of a gay Gump bumbling through history, but Kitten is neither as clueless nor as apolitical as he may seem.
Sliding back and forth between comedy and tragedy is the film's strongest suit
An endearing portrait of a transvestite whose playful ease in the face of one harrowing experience after another makes him into what the Taoist sages call "a disciple of life"
Initially off-putting in mannerism, Cillian Murphy's 'Kitten' ropes the viewer in for the long, arduous haul.
Despite its sometimes-delectable whimsy, Breakfast on Pluto ... winds up being only moderately satisfying.
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