Cheap Breakfast on Pluto (DVD) (Neil Jordan) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Breakfast on Pluto

Even an Irish Nancy boy needs a real mum and dad
Director Neil Jordan's 1996 film "The Butcher Boy" was based on a novel by Patrick McCabe, and he adapts a second work of the Irish author for the screen with "Breakfast on Pluto." This is the tale of Patrick Braden (Cillian Murphy), who prefers to go by the name "Kitten." As a wee babe Patrick was left on the doorstep of a presbytery in an Irish town, where he was taken in by the parish priest (Liam Neeson) and given over to the local pub owner to raise. One day the young boy dresses up in his step-sister's clothes and that is it. His step-mother threatens to parade him up and down the street to shame the boy, but not only is Patrick an transvestite, he is apparently an exhibitionist as well. <
> <
>Being a Nancy boy in Ireland is likely to get you killed, which is one reason for Patrick to head to London and complete his transformation into Kitten, but he has another reason. What little he knows about his mum from the local gossips is that she is supposedly in London and looks a bit like Mitzi Gaynor (if you have no more clue about what Mitzi Gaynor looks like than two birds sitting on a window sill, do not worry: a film clip evidences the point). So Kitten arrives in London all dressed up where no place to go, until he meets up with a stage magician named Bertie (Stephen Rea, who is not going to be fooled twice by a transvestite in a Neil Jordan film). <
> <
>"Breakfast on Pluto" is told in three dozen chapters whose numbers and titles appear on screen (e.g., "Lollipop Ladies," "Deep Water"), as Kitten's quest to find his mother leads to other adventures and discoveries. But even more important than what I assume are the chapter titles from McCabe's book are the 1960s and 1970s songs that provide musical counterpoints to the developments in the story. There is something of a preference for the work of Harry Nielsen (always great to hear "Me and My Arrow"), but there are bonus points for using the Lee Hazlewood song "Sand" as a duet for Murphy and Gavin Friday, who plays Billy Hatchet, the singer of a band that Kitten hooks up with early on in the film. This is a soundtrack that makes everything from "Windmills of Your Mind" and "Feeling" to "Children of the Revolution" and "Fly Robin Fly" work, and makes sure characters get the lyrics right to "How Much Is That Doggy In The Window." <
> <
>There are a lot of movies in which an orphan goes off in search of a parent, and a lot of pitfalls as to what happens when the big moment comes. I like the way "Breakfast on Pluto" plays this out and manages to preserve most of Kitten's aura of innocence, even when he is forced to become a street prostitute (compare what happens here with what we see with the same situation in "Mysterious Skin"). Kitten does not need much to be happy in this world, but then the odds are not favorable in that regard. If you are looking for a comparable character in contemporary films to Kitten it is not the cowboys in "Brokeback Mountain" or the transsexual in "Transamerica," but Angel from "Rent." Kitten lacks the bravado and self-confidence of Angel, but they are kindred spirits, which is a pretty good recommendation in and of itself.

---

An Odyssey of a Visual and Emotional Feast!
BREAKFAST ON PLUTO is now on DVD and perhaps that will garner the larger audience it deserves after its scant art house run on the big screen. In every way this is a tender, sensitive, sweet story, full of hope, faith, indefatigable courage and persistence that is embellished by a first class performance by the gifted Cillian Murphy. <
> <
>Ireland, late 50s early 60s, and a child is left abandoned on the doorstep of the local priest (Liam Neeson). The priest hurriedly places the infant with a foster mother and we watch the little boy Patrick Braden slowly grow into a cross-dressing child with outsider friends, loathed by his adopted mother to the point where he is unable to cope with life as a lie and makes off to London as a transvestite gay man (now going by the name 'Kitten Braden'). He hopes to find his birth mother and his search leads him through the dregs of London, the city that 'swallowed up' his real mother, becoming involved with the seamier side of the city, jailed mistakenly, becoming an apprentice to a magician (Stephen Rea), a cabaret singer, etc until he finally makes the discovery of his beginnings - his true parents - and his journey to find happiness ends sweetly. <
> <
>The entire cast of this long (over two hours) film is so fine that never for an instant does the pace of the tale let up. The cinematography by Declan Quinn is splendid, the costumes by Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh are some of the best recreations of the 70's on film, and the musical score by Anna Jordan mixes her own creations with the wonderful tunes from the era and the result is brilliantly integrated into the film. Director Neil Jordan adapted the screenplay from Patrick McCabe's fine novel and finds all the magic and makes it visual. But in the long run if we are unable to identify and care about Patrick 'Kitten' Braden the movie would seem silly. Cillian Murphy is such an honest actor (having spent time pre-production living with transvestites about whom he speaks so tenderly in the featurette) and gives a multifaceted, glitteringly fine performance. This is a fun, entertaining, and important film. Highly Recommended for all audiences! Grady Harp, April 06 <
> <
>

---

The nine lives of Patrick "Kitten" Braden.
Adapted for the screen and directed by Neil Jordan, "Breakfast on Pluto," based on the novel by Patrick McCabe, is the story of Patrick "Kitten" Braden, a gay Candide, off on a kaleidoscopic journey of self discovery. As you'd expect from the creators of "The Butcher Boy," this is a strange little film, episodic to the extreme, with a surreal quality and a unique kinetic energy. <
> <
>Left on the doorstep of a parish priest in a small Irish village, our kitten is placed in the home of a lady shopkeeper who hasn't the ability to cope with, let alone nurture, a cross-dressing boy all to quickly developing into a flamboyantly gay man. One confrontation too many and our kitten hits the road in search of love and the mother who abandoned him. His resulting adventures include professional and romantic entanglements, prostitution, mistaken identity, false imprisonment, attempted murder and, most poignantly, a happy ending. <
> <
>As Kitten, Cillian Murphy is a revelation. I've seen a number of straight actors play gay transvestites and have rarely been impressed, feeling most fail to connect or communicate any of the inner juice of their characters, delivering performances that are hollow and false. Murphy, star of Danny Boyle's "28 Days Later," nails it. He rises to the challenges and demands of his role, bringing Patrick Braden to life in all his ambiguous glory. Liam Neeson and Stephen Rea, both Jordan regulars, standout among the supporting players, each quietly affecting in rather tricky roles. <
> <
>Neil Jordan has been making emotionally charged, character driven dramas for more than twenty years. Along with "Mona Lisa," "The Butcher Boy," "The End of the Affair" and the Oscar winning "The Crying Game," "Breakfast on Pluto" ranks among this great filmmaker's very best efforts. Bravo.