Release Date: August 16, 2002
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Rosario Dawson, Randy Quaid, Joe Pantoliano, Jay Mohr, John Cleese, Luis Guzman
Directed by: Ron Underwood
Written by: Neil Cuthbert
Distributed by: Warner Brothers
MPAA Rating: R (violence, sexual humor, language)
With The Adventures of Pluto Nash, the movies take one small step forward in creativity and one giant leap backward in screenwriting. The film, directed by Ron Underwood, has a star-studded cast of comedic talent, but it was missing the funny lines and interesting plot that scribe Neil Cuthbert should’ve found a way to work into his script. Somewhere.
The movie opens in the year 2087, as former lowlife Pluto Nash (Eddie Murphy) attempts to put his smuggling days behind him and starts running the most successful nightclub on the moon -- now known as Little America. Life seems to be going well, until a pinstriped gangster (Joe Pantoliano) ambles into Club Pluto and demands to buy out Nash’s club as part of a bigger plan to build his new casino. Nash refuses at first, but that only sets him on the run from Rex’s henchman as they blow up his club. Traveling from one seedy locale to the next, Nash, with the help of his Model 63 bodyguard robot, Bruno (Randy Quaid), and a recently hired waitress, Dina Lake (Rosario Dawson), tries to do away with the bad guys once and for all.
A lot of credit should go to the imaginative side of Cuthbert’s mind, for without that much this movie would have been truly awful. The moon has always had a slightly mysterious feel to it, and Cuthbert combines this with a Total Recall approach -- Earth’s closest neighbor becomes, well, just another place to go to from Earth.
Director Underwood has his Mighty Joe Young cinematographer, Oliver Wood, on hand to get everything down on film. And there’s quite a lot -- production designer Bill Brzeski (Stuart Little 2) and set decorator Brana Rosenfeld (As Good As it Gets) brought the moon to life. The chaotic, neon-lit sets have the hint of possibility and the aesthetic of a visual roller coaster.
Underwood also chose wisely in installing John Powell to do the musical score. As with any man on a mission, Pluto Nash needs a theme song, and with Powell’s experience on Shrek and Evolution, he knew how to invoke an upbeat tune that would get anyone ready to take on the world. With Underwood’s talents behind the camera dating all the way back to the 80’s B-movie classic, Tremors, and his experience with commanding comedic geniuses (like Billy Crystal in City Slickers) to about the same, he knows how to keep a film on track.
Unfortunately, it all begins with the script, which is easily the weakest part of Pluto Nash. Though writer Neil Cuthbert created colorful characters to be played by the likes of Luiz Guzman, Jay Mohr, and John Cleese, the lines weren’t there for them to deliver. Cuthbert’s combination of style without substance is like a Hail Mary into the end zone without a recovery.
While the movie is pleasing, visually, to watch, it fails to keep the audience interested in other aspects. For instance, it’s a comedy, first and foremost: Murphy is a proven commodity in this regard, but he’s never given the chance to run away with the character and make it his own. In fact, the character has never made the actor look more dried up, and fans can only hope that Murphy still has something new to offer.
While the heart and imagination are all in the right place, the writing prevented it from becoming more -- the plot was predictable through and through (though it was a blessing to see something resembling a plot, which, in the year 2002, isn’t always guaranteed when it comes to the movies). It’s a shame to watch such accomplished actors star in a film that, if it had been made 50 years ago, would have been perfect fodder for the old television parody staple “Mystery Science Theatre 3000.”
all contents © 2002 Michael J. Eiff