The Adventures of Pluto Nash

The Adventures of Pluto Nash is a 2002 American science fiction action comedy film directed by Ron Underwood and starring Eddie Murphy (in a dual role), Randy Quaid, Rosario Dawson, Joe Pantoliano, Jay Mohr, Luis Guzmán, James Rebhorn, Peter Boyle, Pam Grier, and John Cleese. The film was released in the United States on August 16, 2002.

The Adventures of Pluto Nash
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRon Underwood
Produced by
Written byNeil Cuthbert
Starring
Music byJohn Powell
CinematographyOliver Wood
Edited by
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • August 16, 2002 (2002-08-16)
Running time
95 minutes
Country
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$100 million[1]
Box office$7.1 million[1]

A major critical and box office failure, the film was universally panned by moviegoers and critics alike and is notable for being one of the biggest box office bombs in the history of cinema.

Plot

In 2080, on a colony on the Moon called Little America, retired smuggler and ex-convict Pluto Nash (Eddie Murphy) buys a nightclub in an attempt to fulfill his long-time wish and also to prevent the murder of the club's previous owner, Anthony Frankowski (Jay Mohr), by mobsters Gino (Burt Young) and Larry (Lillo Brancato). With the help of a Hispanic assistant and an android named Bruno (Randy Quaid), Pluto rebuilds it into a very popular nightclub.

Seven years later in 2087, a young woman named Dina Lake (Rosario Dawson), the daughter of a friend of Pluto's, is stranded on the Moon and tries to earn money for transport back to Earth. Pluto gives her a job as a server. Pluto is accosted by Mogan (Joe Pantoliano) and Kelp (Victor Varnado), henchmen of mysterious entrepreneur Rex Crater, who wants to buy the club. When Pluto refuses, the henchmen destroy the club. Pluto, Dina and Bruno manage to escape.

Pluto's friend Rowland (Peter Boyle), a retired police officer who is a friend of his mother's, learns that Rex Crater has associates linked to human cloning. While Pluto and Dina investigate further, Crater's assassins strike, but Pluto and Dina escape by hijacking a limo driven by a holographic chauffeur.

Their investigation further links Zoroaster Marucci (Alec Baldwin) to Crater. They are again attacked and chased by Crater's henchmen, but they escape and are then rescued by Felix Laranga (Luis Guzmán), a local smuggler who idolizes Pluto Nash. They infiltrate Crater's casino/hotel.

Pluto finally confronts Crater, who reveals himself to be a clone of Pluto. Crater has killed both Marucci and Runa, a geneticist who specialized in cloning, and established his own criminal enterprise. When his henchmen arrive, Crater kills them for their incompetence. He and Pluto then fight, with Crater ultimately being thrown through a window to his death. The movie ends in a celebration at the rebuilt Club Pluto, with Nash as the owner.

Cast
  • Eddie Murphy as Pluto Nash, a retired smuggler and ex-convict, who deals in animals, clothing and drugs.
    • Murphy also portrays the villain Rex Crater, Pluto Nash's clone created by Marucci
  • Randy Quaid as Bruno, an old, inferior 63 Deluxe model android and Pluto's childhood friend, also his smuggling partner.
  • Rosario Dawson as Dina Lake, an aspiring singer from Salt Lake City who is stranded on the moon, who asks Pluto for help finding a job to earn money for a ticket back to Earth.
  • Jay Mohr as Anthony Frankowski/Tony Francis, a former Polish singer who owned a washed-up polka club.
  • Peter Boyle as Rowland, a retired police detective with connections to the FBI and an old friend of Pluto and Pluto's mother.
  • Luis Guzmán as Felix Laranga, a smuggler from Puerto Rico, deals in animals and contraband casino chips and dice.
  • Joe Pantoliano as Mogan, one of Rex Crater's henchmen.
  • James Rebhorn as Belcher, Rex Crater's assistant.
  • Pam Grier as Flura Nash, the mother of Pluto Nash.
  • John Cleese as James, the holographic chauffeur of the limousine that Pluto hijacks.
  • Burt Young as Gino, a mobster that nearly killed Tony Francis.
  • Lillo Brancato as Larry, a mobster that nearly killed Tony Francis
  • Victor Varnado as Kelp, one of Rex Crater's henchmen.
  • Miguel A. Núñez Jr. as Miguel
  • Illeana Douglas as Dr. Mona Zimmer, the operator of a cosmetic surgery station.
  • Cornelia Sharpe as a Tony Francis fan.
  • Alec Baldwin as Michael Zoroaster Marucci (uncredited), the mobster who created Rex Crater to be his public face.[2]

Reception

Critical response

The film was received negatively by critics. Rotten Tomatoes ranked the film 79th in the 100 worst 2000s decade movies list,[3] with a rating of 4% based on 90 reviews. The critical consensus states, "The Adventures of Pluto Nash is neither adventurous nor funny, and Eddie Murphy is on autopilot in this notorious box office bomb."[4] On Metacritic, it holds a 12 out of 100 based on 12 reviews, meaning “overwhelming dislike”. Joe Leydon was one of the few critics to give it a positive review calling it "a prodigious popcorn flick that may be the most undeserving victim of critical overkill since Town and Country".[5]

Pluto Nash was nominated for five Golden Raspberry Awards in 2003 including Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Eddie Murphy), Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, and Worst Screen Couple (Murphy and himself cloned), but failed to win any. It was later nominated for Worst Comedy of Our First 25 Years at the 25th Golden Raspberry Awards in 2005, but lost to Gigli.

Eddie Murphy poked fun at himself in an interview with Barbara Walters, saying, "I know the two or three people that liked this movie."[6]

About the movie's reception, Joe Pantoliano said: "You usually can’t tell when a movie is going to be shit, but on that one you could. And I think Ron Underwood, the director, got victimized by that, because that guy is good. But because of the material and the style in which some players came to work, we were off the mark, you know? A lot of hanky-panky going on there. So, I wasn’t surprised. I was surprised it turned out to be better than I thought it was going to be." [7]

In a 2019 interview with Joy Reid and Jerry Seinfeld, Murphy said he doesn't think any of his characters in any of his movies were like the "real" him, but that Pluto Nash was closest.[8]

Box office

The Adventures of Pluto Nash was a massive box office bomb, with its budget was estimated at $100 million (with marketing costs of $20 million) and domestic box office $4,420,080 and $2,683,893 overseas. It had a total worldwide gross of $7,103,973.[9] In 2014, the Los Angeles Times listed the film as one of the most expensive box office flops of all time.[10]

Home media

The film was released on DVD and VHS on November 19, 2002 by Warner Home Video.

See also

References
  1. Pluto Nash at Box Office Mojo
  2. Jones, Beth (August 17, 2002). "'Pluto Nash': The future isn't funny". The Roanoke Times. Roanoke, Virginia. Archived from the original on November 2, 2002. Retrieved April 9, 2012.
  3. Worst of the Worst Archived September 28, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  4. "The Adventures of Pluto Nash".
  5. Leydon, Joe (August 18, 2002). "The Adventures of Pluto Nash". The Moving Picture Show. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  6. Westbrook, Caroline (8 August 2013). "From Stealth to Cutthroat Island: 10 box office flops to rival The Lone Ranger". Metro. DMG Media. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  7. https://film.avclub.com/joe-pantoliano-was-in-risky-business-and-the-sopranos-a-1798231134
  8. "Jerry Seinfeld & Eddie Murphy Debate The Funniest Comedian Of All Time". 23 Aug 2019.
  9. "The Adventures Of Pluto Nash". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2007-11-22.
  10. Eller, Claudia (January 15, 2014). "The costliest box office flops of all time". Los Angeles Times.
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