Breakfast of Champions (1999)

I Lost My Breakfast

I don't even want to talk about it. I hope Nick Nolte got a fat paycheck for wearing that red negligee. Makes his infamous DUI mug shot look good. The one authentic scene is where Dwayne reads about "himself" in Trout's book. Everything else--and I mean everything--is just awful. June 6, 2008

A Fabulous piece of cinematic surrealism

Certain of the films Bruce Willis has appeared in definitely cross the line between tongue-in-cheek and out and out surrealism, in the sense of Salvatore Dali or Heironymous Bosch. The most well known of these is certainly "The Fifth Element" - a wonderfully droll comedy of ultimate destruction! It is only recently that I encountered "Breakfast of Champions" as a film although I had been through Kurt Vonnegut's novel previously. There is the tired argument about how film adaptations of literary works are either too literal or too liberal. Film making is not novel writing, and even though the latter may be based on the former, it has to stand on its own merits irrespective of its origins. In this case, however loose the adaptation of the novel, the film works on so many levels. The clue, of course, if the title which, for those of you old enough to remember, was the advertising phrase for the breakfast cereal, Wheaties. That's enough of a clue - the crass fantasy world of television advertising, the brittle surface veneer covering a maelstrom of emotional angst, the absurd juxtapositions, the reversal of character where the seemingly crazy loner becomes the hero, the tragic ending where release brings resolution in the mental hospital lockup for one character, and death by dissolution into the running fantasy notion of paradise for the other. The ending of the film is terribly jarring - even if you expect it. Insanity is like that, I guess.

For my money, it's a brilliant bit of film making. Perhaps the most jarring part of the illusion is Willis with a head of hair and thin, steel framed glasses!

This is not one for people who can only think in linear fashion - no fantasy, especially surrealism, operates that way. Too many people complained, for example about the third "Pirates of the Caribbean" - it was too complex, went in too many directions, had too much detail. Nonsense. Too much of our pop culture is single tracked hip-hop sterile. Just as in music there are more meters than 2 or 3, so too in literature, the visual arts and in cinema as well.

Bravo. Well done. January 25, 2008

Another of my favourite S.F. author

I've the most of Vonnegut's S.F. books on my bookshelfs.
Despite my often changing adress in my life, I've hang on to my S.F. literature, and now i'ts possible to get the movies too. July 8, 2007

It is what it is

I totally agree with those of you who are upset over the fact that this is not a "true" adaptation of Vonnegut's novel.
When I first watched this movie I was expecting something a little truer to the original story, but once it started I realized that was not in the cards. So, I decided to turn my brain off and take this movie for what it is, entertainment. I have gone back and watched it since then, and still find it an enjoyable bit of fluff.
I thought Willis did a wonderful job portraying a man who is losing his mind. Albert Finney was a very admirable Kilgore Trout, and Nick Nolte stole the show with his portrayal of Henry Le Sabre.
I have read all of Vonnegut's wonderful novels, and am very pleased whenever someone decides to adapt one into film. Many fans may not be pleased with this particular piece, and in response to that I would refer them to Slaughterhouse-Five, and Mother Night. As for this flick goes, watch it for the drawings. April 17, 2007

Why all the hate?

I've read the book and seen the movie. Don't really understand all the hate for this movie. Is it as good as the book? It certainly is not but it's good for what it is and that's an oddball movie. If you enjoy weirder slices of cinema then i think you could very well enjoy this movie. If you are a Vonnegut nut looking for the best book to movie adaptation ever made then be sure to look elsewhere..... March 17, 2007

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