Breakfast on Pluto

Breakfast on Pluto

Directed by: Neil Jordan

Starring: Cillian Murphy

Genre: Comedy/Drama

Run Time: 135 min.

Release Date: September 2005

On The Web: Official Site

Teaser: Movie Trailer

Reviewed by Byron Merritt

It’s always a joy to find a film that falls outside the norms of casual cinema, which usually contain common plots, cookie-cutter characters, and bland stories. It’s also enjoyable to see an extremely strong character portrayal by an actor who you probably couldn’t have pictured in a particular role, but does such a stunning job that after watching the film you couldn’t see anyone else playing it. Cillian Murphy (RED EYE) is normally someone most movie-goers associate in the “bad guy” spotlight. But here, in BREAKFAST ON PLUTO, Murphy shows he’s got some serious acting chops.

Similar in terrain to TRANSAMERICA, the focus is on a transvestite named Patrick “Kitten” Braden. As an infant, he’s left on the doorstep of a local Irish church and picked up by Father Liam (Liam Neeson, THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA). Unable to locate the child’s mother, Father Liam inserts the boy into an orphanage where, as he grows, we quickly see that he doesn’t fit in. Punished for his impudent behavior, “Kitten” (as he likes to be called) moves from place to place and person to person looking for the mother who’d abandoned him.

Not willing to give up until he finds her, his life leads him through IRA uprisings, bombings, sexual exploits of the most heinous kind, and eventually to London (“the city that swallowed up his mother”) where an encounter with his real mum gives him the realization that his life is his own and he needs to live it for himself, not for anyone else.

The entire film is shot as if it were telling a story via a book (which of course it is based on); each section of Kitten’s life is given a chapter number and title. This was pretty cool and a nice break from Hollyweird norm.

The most shocking and comedic portions of the film are completely intermingled. Bombings of nightclubs in Ireland and England are put in hysterically funny contexts (one time leading Kitten to believe he/she could be a superhero who eliminates his/her foes by spraying them with a special caustic perfume, but in reality he/she has to deal with her Irish heritage in a country — England — that believes he/she to be a bombing suspect). Most of the time, Kitten’s enemies quickly become his/her friend because of his/her friendly demeanor. Even interrogating policemen eventually come to care for Kitten which, again, was both shocking and funny.

The film isn’t without its flaw, however. The chapter periods are sometimes very short, only giving the audience a minor glimpse of situations and certain pivotal, lateral characters.

But Murphy’s performance is solid gold and makes this a very watchable flick.