Breakfast On Pluto Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES PLOT SUMMARY
In the 1970s, a foundling lad, Patrick "Kitten" Braden, comes of age by leaving his Irish town for London, in part to look for his mother and in part because his trans-gender nature is beyond the town's understanding.
| Cillian Murphy | Patrick 'Kitten' Braden |
| Morgan Jones | Bulding Site Worker |
| Eva Birthistle | Eily Bergin |
| Liam Neeson | Father Liam |
| Mary Coughlan | Housekeeper |
| Conor McEvoy | Young Patrick Braden |
| Ruth McCabe | Ma Braden |
| Charlene McKenna | Caroline Braden |
| Seamus Reilly | Lawrence |
| Peter Owens | Butcher |
| Emmet Lawlor McHugh | Young Irwin |
| Bianca O'Connor | Young Charlie |
| Paraic Breathnach | Benny Feely |
| Pat McCabe | Peepers Egan/Schoolmaster |
| Owen Roe | Dean |
| Neil Jordan |
7.30 out of 10 (6163 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Cillian Murphy gives a marvelous performance as Patrick "Kitten" Brady
posted on 16 May 2009Cillian Murphy ("Batman Begins," "Red Eye")gives a marvelous performance as Patrick "Kitten" Brady, a flashy transvestite who came of age in Ireland and Great Britain during the English government's battle with the Irish Republican Army in the 1970s.Told in chapters, such as "When I was Out of My League," or "It's Tearing Me Apart," or "Phantom Ladies," there is not really a lot to recommend here except for Murphy's brilliant reading (one which may even cop him an Oscar nomination, but I doubt it) and a great soundtrack that plays everything from the Shadows to Bobby Goldsboro to Silver Convention to the Youngbloods, among others.Abandoned as a baby in his small Irish hometown and aware from a very early age that he is different, Braden is an endearing, deceptively tough young man. He dresses in his foster sister's clothes and applies her lipstick, only to scandalize his cluck-clucking foster mother. In his teens, he gets into even more trouble with his Catholic school priests after writing a hard-core story of his birth (claiming that one of the parish fathers, Liam Neesom, is really his dad).Taking a powder to London, he falls into the transvestite glam rock scene, taking small time show business jobs such as a costume-wearing Wombie with Brendan Gleeson ("Braveheart," "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"), and a cheap suit magician's assistant with Stephen Rea ("The Crying Game," which was also about the IRA and transvestism). All the time he is searching for his real mother, the only clue to her identity is that she looks like Mitzi Gaynor.His best friends Charlie and Irwin have a relationship, she gets pregnant, he gets killed by the IRA, he is implicated in the bombing of a British discotheque, falls into prostitution, peep shows and finally settles into sort of an ordinary life helping to raise Charlie's baby.Directed by Neil Jordan ("The Good Thief," "The Crying Game"), this is an interesting picture carried - once again - by Murphy and the music and is based on the novel by Pat McCabe ("The Butcher Boy"). Also look for an interesting cameo by Brian Ferry as a homicidal maniac.
"Same World. Different Planet"
posted on 10 May 2009It sound like a big cliché but "Breakfast On Pluto" is one of the most brilliant and nicely provoking movie I have seen since Ang Lee's masterpiece "Brokeback Mountain".I very much liked Neil Jordan's "Crying Game" and once again the director walks on the same ground with "Breakfast On Pluto". Trans-sexuality with the bubbly world of the 60's and the 70's is strongly in the picture. Neil Jordan did again what he does best: draws a time line of the 70's Ireland which was living with the constant fear of IRA. The controversy of being different at such delicate times is interesting to follow.Patrick "Kitten" Braden is abandoned by his mother when he was a baby. Scandalous story behind Patrick's life and his eccentricity makes him very unusual "boy" in 1970's Ireland. Search of the mysterious "Phantom Lady" becomes an obsession for Patrick. Patrick is on a journey discovering "Kitten" and finding missing piece of him. Patrick's world is extraordinary but it gets him into trouble for time to time...The most undoubted fact is that Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins, Cold Mountain) will be a huge star! His performance as Patrick/Kitten is outstanding! I am a huge huge new fan of his! The music was also very fantastic! "Roxy Music" legend Brian Ferry makes an appearance in the film.
Tries for Whimsy, Settles for a Great Soundtrack
posted on 02 May 2009With "Breakfast on Pluto," Neil Jordan attempts a whimsical picaresque tale but creates instead a pale and glaringly underdeveloped movie.Cillian Murphy tries with all of his might to inject some vitality into the character of Patrick Braden, an effeminate boy who grows up to be a cross-dressing gamine, a sort of modern-day Scarlett O'Hara who wants to prance through life without getting his feet dirty in any of the world's messiness. Instead of the Civil War, the backdrop here is 1970s Ireland and the constant threat of violence posed by the IRA. Patrick leaves his home to search for his mother, who abandoned him when he was a babe, and inadvertently finds himself mixed up with the terrorist group. From there he flees to London and has all sorts of what we're supposed to think are nutty adventures, until a happy ending finds Patrick at peace and all right with the world.None of this really works. Neil Jordan, a filmmaker whose repertoire suggests political preoccupations, does not seem at any moment convinced by the fantasy or optimism of his own film, so everything rings false. Nothing that happens to Patrick, good or bad, seems to have any significant consequences, and we don't ever really learn much about him or about what he himself has learned on his journey. I believe Jordan intends for us to believe that Patrick has grown as a person over the course of the film, but I only believe that because of the conventions of picaresque stories, not because I saw any growth in Patrick's character. The screenplay works double time to race through all of the plot points -- it feels as if the screenwriter were adapting an 800-page novel to the screen but didn't want to leave anything out. The story introduces a character in one scene only to send him packing two scenes later without having made any tangible impact on the story."Breakfast on Pluto" is not a bad movie, and despite its flaws still offers a moderately enjoyable ride. The awesome pulsing soundtrack helps greatly, and often does much of the work that should have fallen to either Jordan or his actors. I found myself at times responding to nothing but the music, which does not make for a whole-hearted recommendation of the film, but I'll take what I can get.Grade: B-
How good is this film!
posted on 10 Apr 2009I absolutely loved this film! What an amazing performance from Cillian Murphy! It made you laugh and it made me cry! It was a whirlwind of a journey, a little sad in places but I swear in other scenes it had the whole cinema laughing! People should give this film a chance! The whole cast was good, but the people who stood out apart from Cillian were of course Liam Neeson and some might say a surprise performance from Bryan Ferry! Its not until the credits did people realise he was in it! This film I felt was on a par with VELVET GOLDMINE. The soundtrack was superb! The pacing of the film moved rapidly through emotions. I didn't want the film to end! I hope to read the book now!
Excellent Movie
posted on 25 Mar 2009I found this movie one morning on cable. I couldn't stop watching it.Cillian Murphy is mesmerizing. His performance makes you want to watch this movie. He deserved to win the Golden Globe in 2006 for his performance.The only negative is you must listen hard to understand the text of the movie as the accents and language are thick and difficult to understand at times.Liam Neeson is also outstanding in this movie as well. Without giving anything away, he has one scene where he goes to Kitten in London and explains things. I cried! It is definitely worth watching.
Couldn't understand half of the dialog
posted on 21 Mar 2009I can't believe a film with this much talent can be a total waste, but if you can't understand the dialog for the heavy Irish accents, you can't appreciate where they are trying to take you.I gave it over an hour and without being pulled into the story, I could only see a lot of bizarre behavior.I walked out to avoid further pain. I wasn't the only one to leave early.Cinematography, locations, were acceptable, but not enough to pull it out for me.I will try to see other productions of Film Board of Ireland, but only after establishing that an educated American adult will have no difficulty recognizing the language.
Stolen Scene
posted on 15 Mar 2009I rented the DVD from my local DVD - store with high expectations from Mr. Jordan. The movie was going very nice but then, the scene where the Priest comes to the Bordel to see Kitten started... I realized, to my great frustration, that the scene is identical to the infamous scene of Paris, Texas ( http://imdb.com/title/tt0087884/ ), where Travis meets Jane in the Bordel, and he starts his confession. Exactly the same thing happens in Jordan's film;The scenery is basically the same, the progression of the scene is identical, the Priest also does his mini confession, and even Kitten moves the same way as Nastasia Kinski.. I don't know if Mr. Jordan did it intentionally or not, but it sure wrecked my view of the movie..
O Lucky Patrick
posted on 15 Mar 2009"Breakfast on Pluto" is a line from a 70s pop song, written by street musician Don Partridge. ("We'll journey to Mars /And visit the stars/ Finding our breakfast on Pluto"). Neil Jordan spins the tragic-comic tale of an Irish boy in the late 60s and early 70s, Patrick "Kitten" Braden, who having found his home village in County Cavan somewhat intolerant toward young lads who like dressing up in ladies' costumes, goes to London to find a future – and his mother, who abandoned him on the church steps when he was a few weeks old and set off herself to that great metropolis.Patrick wanders around Ireland first, meeting various oddball characters and also some very nasty ones who use politics as an excuse for homicidal behavior. Someone once remarked that revolutions start out being led by idealists, but over time the idealists are displaced and the criminals take over. This certainly seems to be the case with the IRA, who are nothing more than gangsters, and they provide some grim moments in the film.Against this serious background Jordan tells Patrick's story in an optimistic and lighthearted fashion. Patrick is a curious character, rather passive, inclined to let things just happen, yet very clear- minded and decisive when he has to be. Cillian Murphy, assisted by a terrific set of cheekbones and big blue eyes, puts in the performance of a lifetime as Patrick and is utterly convincing as a gorgeous woman.There are many other good performances in the film, particularly Stephen Rea as a seedy magician Patrick goes to work for, Liam Neeson as the parish priest who turns out to be a father in more ways than one and Ruth Negga as Charlie, a black girl who eventually gives Patrick a purpose in life.The storyline reminded me of Lindsay Anderson's "O Lucky Man", a wide-eyed innocent reeling from one dodgy situation to another. The two hours or so went fairly quickly, but the ending was an anticlimax. In fact it was hardly an ending at all.With over 30 songs in the sound track, from "Children of the Revolution" to "How Much is that Doggie in the Window" the film is a rich experience for lovers of 60s-70s pop.You don't have to be Irish to appreciate this movie, but it helps. Neil Jordan has not here reached the height he attained in "The Crying Game" or The End of the Affair", but he has produced a comedy with plenty of bite.A footnote: Being an old car buff I couldn't help noticing that the same Rover and Morris Minor were in the streets of both the village in Ireland and London. To be expected in a low budget production, but a bit obvious in this case.
Great Film... possible spoilers
posted on 05 Mar 2009I saw the film at the NY Film Festival (with the actors in attendance), and I have to say that I loved it. In the film, Patrick "Kitten" Braden is an Irish baby who was abandoned by his mother on the doorstep of an uncaring stepmother. From the time he is a child, Kitten's cross dressing tendencies and his outspoken nature cause people to reject him (remember, this is Catholic Ireland in the 70s). Kitten grows up among the unrest of the IRA, but he is determined to be happy, and in order to be happy, he has to be himself (or herself). He goes to London, where he encounters all sorts of problems (they don't like the fact that he's Irish or a transvestite), but he keeps his optimistic nature despite all the hardship. The film is not about a person discovering himself (as so many coming-of-age movies are); it is about a Kitten knowing who she is and not changing her ways to please the world at large.The direction and cinematography are amazing, but then this is Neil Jordan. Whatever problems you might have had with Interview With a Vampire, you can't deny that the movie was beautiful to look at. The same is true of all Jordan's films. He starts this film with a bird's eye view, and has many beautiful touches throughout. The chapter titles are hilarious. In particular, look out for the beautiful shot composition and direction of the scene between Kitten and her father in the peeping club. It's absolutely beautiful and well shot. Though he strays from the book (a lot), I believe the movie remains true to the character of Patrick, a charming, sometimes self-involved person who stubbornly makes his way through life. It must have been difficult to bring Kitten's active fantasy life to the screen, but Jordan helps us navigate between her fantasies and her reality with great skill.The performances are the best thing about the film. Liam Neeson is always great, and this is no exception. Same goes for Stephen Rea. The actress who plays Charlie is someone to watch out for; she's great. The guy who plays Irwin did not impress me, but he wasn't bad. The movie, however, belongs to Cillian. Physically, he is suited for the role because he's so small, but it isn't just his appearance that helps. I've been watching Murphy's career since 28 Days Later, and I love his ability to switch between being really intimidating (Red Eye) or really vulnerable (How Harry Became a Tree); sometimes he's both in the same movie (28 Days Later). The man knows how to use his body to convey strength, or the lack thereof. Here, he is absolutely convincing as the witty Kitten, who desperately wants to be loved, but won't compromise her personality. You can see the hurt in his eyes when he is mistreated, but also the strength of his mind when he is determined to do something (witness the gun disposal scene and the police interrogation scene). Just because Kitten looks weak doesn't mean he is weak. When you least expect it, he summons a great amount of strength to pull through difficult situations.I highly recommend the movie to anyone who has a chance to see it. It is hilarious, yet heartbreaking. The events related by Kitten are sad and terrible, but Kitten's sense of humor always shines through. The audience was in stitches the whole time. Was the movie perfect? No. Is it incredibly good, even great? Definitely.
Austin Movie Show review (out of this world!)
posted on 03 Mar 2009To truly appreciate "Breakfast on Pluto," you've first got to understand "the troubles" (as they were called) faced by Ireland and the U.K. in the twentieth century. Both the Irish and British fought over Protestant-controlled Northern Ireland, and the terror hit a fever pitch in the 1970s with bombings in England and Ireland. Amid all this violence, Patrick "Kitten" Brady (Cillian Murphy) is an orphaned transvestite in search of the mother who left him on the front porch of a church when he was a baby. He (or rather, she) is a whimsical, innocent, and loving young man who is far more interested in finding love and uncovering his past than in protesting the violence in Ireland. Even when he is wrongfully arrested for the bombing of a London nightclub, he still refuses to take life too seriously. Murphy is not only mesmerizing as Kitten, but he's also the most gorgeous transvestite in years. "Breakfast on Pluto" is truly out of this world.
Moving
posted on 30 Jan 2009I was reluctant to give this a watching. The synopsis seemed a bit conflicted to the point of being muddled, and yes, the screenplay does tend to hold true to this analysis, while maintaining a beautiful nuance, all the same.Patrick/Paddy Kitten is a cross dressing transsexual from a very early age, much to the horror of his foster mother. He leaves home by mutual consent, and goes in search of his mother via the parish priest who arranged his foster care.This tale is witty and clever, but the story is quite serious; a word which receives a great deal of reflection in this film. It (the tale) centers around young Kitten and his quest for roots, family, love, and self.All set against a backdrop of Disco and the IRA, oddly enough, but it works as a compelling drama. Cillian Murphy, Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson.It rates an 8.3/10 from...the Fiend :.
Not likely to be enjoyed by fans of the book....
posted on 14 Jan 2009First of all, I must state that Patrick McCabe is one of my favorite writers, and that I thought the novel "Breakfast on Pluto" was brilliant. It's possible that if I hadn't read the novel, my opinion of the movie would be somewhat higher. But not much...I really found the movie to be clichéd, sentimental and overly whimsical and cutesy. The book was whimsical in it's way, but it was whimsy with quite an edge. The filmmaker seemed to do everything possible to blunt this edge. I can understand that in order to be rendered palatable to movie-goers, the story had to be lightened somewhat...if you accept the premise that the book was suitable material for such treatment....which I don't. If a film had to be made, it should have retained the dark spirit of the book, and damn the squeamish. David Lynch could have done it. From changing Braden's chosen nickname from "Pussy" to "Kitten", to giving no indication of Braden's rage (towards his priest father, and the world in general), to having his first sugar-daddy as a glam-rock musician rather than a married politician (thereby upping the pop appeal of the movie),to having a reconciliation with the father that never occurred in the book, to injecting a sweet infant into the end of the tale, and on the compromises go, ad nauseum. To encapsulate..loosely based on the book, and with a very different slant and impact.
This will be the Irish movie of 2006
posted on 09 Dec 2008I've been looking forward to Breakfast On Pluto since I heard the announcement that the movie was going into production. I'm a big fan of Pat McCabe's books and was swept away by his Breakfast On Pluto, the story of a lost soul from a Border town in Ireland. So, I was delighted when I heard that the book was to be made into a film. Then I heard that the film was to be directed by Niall Jordan who directed another McCabe adaptation, The Butcher Boy, and the screenplay was by Jordan and McCabe (again, like The Butcher Boy) and that Cillian Murphy was to star as 'Kitten' and that many Jordan regulars were to co-star (Rea, Hart and more)... well, it's fair to say that I had high expectations from this movie.I wasn't disappointed. If anything the movie is an improvement on the book, not something I thought possible. This movie is uplifting and utterly optimistic, which all came as a surprise considering the subject matter; the troubles, the church, 1970's Ireland's attitude to sexual ambiguity, in fact, 1970's Ireland's attitude to sex in general.But this is the story of Patrick 'Kitten' Braden and Kitten's view on the world. She sees the good in every one and the beauty in every thing. She's no damsel in distress though, mess with her and you'll end up with a squirt of Channel in the eye. Kitten breezes through life with seemingly only two goals; to find her mother and to look beautiful. If the real world dare intrude, she can easily dismiss it with her favourite put-down, "serious, serious, serious." However, the real world will wear you down and two moments in the movie just tore at my heart; when Kitten finally breaks down in the interrogation room and when, later, she admits that she will die on the streets. These moments anchored the movie for me and reminded me that I wasn't watching a fantasy.Jordan, one of my favourite directors, has really produced the goods here. His direction always looks fresh and new. The sweeping introduction shot of the town, subtitled robin-redbreasts, saturated colours, this is all beautiful. The almost complete darkness of the aftermath of an IRA bomb, the shattered mirror ball, a bleeding heart, stuff you'll never forget. Jordan might even have surpassed The Butcher Boy.The writing is great. The cast must've thought all their Christmases had come at once when they read the script. Jordan and McCabe tell the story like all good story tellers; they never take their eye of the ball, they never lose your interest. They've lived this life (they both grew up in the Ireland of this era, they both escaped to London) and when Kitten climbs the steps to see Big Ben for the first time, you walk those steps with her.Cillian Murphy's performance as Kitten is simply outstanding. I can't imagine anyone else playing the part. The man must be on screen for ninety percent of the film yet he never once slips into caricature mode. He could easily have worn out the audience's patience within ten minutes but his Kitten is real and, hell, you love her. She is sympathetic without ever being pathetic, gentle but not weak, and above all, she is beautiful. My god, I don't think a man has ever looked so beautiful on screen.Murphy is well helped by a cast that is a veritable best-of of current Irish acting. Neeson, Rea, Gleeson and Hart all prove their mettle yet again while newcomers Kinlan and Negga shine. Gavin Friday makes a hell of a debut and Pat McCabe steals a brilliant scene. Word-up also for young Connor Nolan as ten-year-old Patrick.The music of this movie is infectious. You'll bop along on your seat to many a scene. The clothes! Ah why couldn't I have been a teen in the seventies? Breakfast On Pluto is gonna be a classic. Jordan's direction, his and McCabe's writing and Murphy's performance... I tell ya, they'll be talking about this movie for years to come.
Neil Jordan returns to his best material: gender bending and the IRA
posted on 03 Dec 2008This spellbinding, tightly written, tightly wound, full speed ahead film is Neil Jordan's best work by far since his 1992 hit, "The Crying Game." And, interestingly, in this new film, Jordan returns to exactly the same intertwined themes that marked "Crying Game": the armed struggle of Northern Irish Catholics against the British Crown and gender bending.Unlike the last minute revelations in "Crying Game," however, here the protagonist's transsexuality is placed front and center from the getgo. Cillian Murphy gives a bravura performance as Patrick "Kitten" Braden, in a story set in the 60s and 70s. Murphy oozes sensual vitality and is a world class flirt, but he's also genuinely kind and compassionate toward everybody.The story is divided into 35 brief, fast paced "chapters" following Kitten's life over several years, first in a village near Belfast, later in London. The musical score, which is extraordinarily good, is an eclectic mix of everything from 40s pop tunes to Harry Nilsson and Van Morrison. Good supporting turns are provided by Liam Neeson, Ruth Negga, Stephen Rea, Gavin Friday and Brendan Gleeson. My top rated narrative drama of 2005: grade 10/10 A.
amazing!
posted on 03 Nov 2008AMAZING acting!!! amazing story!!!! my new favorite!! I love the way it was filmed it was like watching a fairytale! i would recommend it to anyone!!I thought that cillian Murphy did an amazing job!!! This is probably on of the greatest movies I've ever seen!! I can't seem to figure out why I didn't hear anything about it when it came out it should have been of for every award there is!!!! I can't stress enough how amazing the acting was!! I was some of the best i've ever seen!!! BRAVO!! I only wish i would have seen it in theaters. The music was also amazing it fit with the movie perfectly!! It was like the music was written to be in this movie and the movie was made to contain the music!! It was the same with the actors they were born to play the roles especially cillian!! Sorry if I sort of rambled on but I cant stress how great this movie is!!
"If I wasn't a transvestite terrorist, would you marry me?"
posted on 01 Nov 2008Yes Kitten darling, yes I would. Maybe it's the cobalt saucer eyes and bee-stung lips, or that breathy voice and unbridled exuberance of a true ingénue. Either way the success of Neil Jordan's "Breakfast on Pluto," hinges on Patrick "Kitten" Braden's adorability. Adapted from the Patrick McCabe novel of the same name, the story opens with a babe left on the rectory doorstep to be found by a priest who may or may not be the child's father. Raised by a strict foster mother, Patrick rebels early and often, wreaking havoc in Catholic School, shocking and shaming his family in full drag, all the while, pining for his birth mother who he's been told was "swallowed up by London."Everything in Patrick/Kitten's life is high drama, from IRA bombings and an affair with a gun smuggler, to a stint as a magician's muse and the surprising comfort of a jail cell. Depending upon, and almost always receiving, the kindness of strangers, Kitten floats through each adventure, buoyed by the hope of love on the horizon. "Pluto" is an odd little film in its mix of seriousness and gaiety. It is both a film you can sink your teeth into and one you can giggle along with. With stellar turns by some of Ireland's finest Liam Nelson, Stephen Rea and fittingly enough, the oh-so-watchable Virgin Prunes frontman, Gavin Friday and more ups and downs than The Giant Dipper, "Breakfast on Pluto" is engaging at every misstep along the way. In a departure from his recent villainous roles "Batman Begins" and "Red Eye", Cillian Murphy brings the childlike Patrick Braden gloriously to life. If you care for the boy, it's a lovely adventure. If not, well the whole thing will fall flat.
We've seen this before...
posted on 30 Oct 2008The last Neil Jordan film I can recall seeing was (of course) 'The Crying Game' 13 years ago. I may have seen others, but none of them stuck in the memory at all. The Crying Game was a heady mix of transsexualism, the Irish, terrorism, police brutality, innocence on the run in London, multi-ethnic relationships, whimsicality and period pop music.Breakfast on Pluto is an attempt at a heady mix of transsexualism, the Irish, terrorism, police brutality, innocence on the run in London, multi-ethnic relationships, whimsicality and period pop music. Sound familiar? Even Stephen Rea (a fine actor with an extraordinarily melancholy face) reappears in a supporting role as a seedy magician.There's an amusing cameo from Bryan Ferry as a murderous kerb-crawler, and the seventies setting is effectively realised, but apart from some cringingly twee, sub-Amelie talking CGI robins, which top and tail the film, there's no real difference and nothing new to say in Pluto. The characters don't really engage the emotions and the way several of them are blown up and shot look more like clumsy plot devices than genuine dramatic catalysts.I give it a 4/10.
Enter into Kitten's world
posted on 22 Oct 2008A good movie may do many wonderful things to the audience. One of these is to take them into a fascinating world which they would not normally experience. For "Breakfast on Pluto" the amazing journey (which some likens to "The Odyssey", "Candide" and other literary and artistic work) is through the world of Patrick "Kitten" Braden, an transvestite Irish lad with a child like innocence that breaks your heart.In a small Irish village, conceived as a result of Father Liam's (Liam Neeson) uncontrollable erotic impulse on housemaid Eily (Eva Birthistle), Kitten (as he prefers to be called) is left at the doors step of a couple who becomes his foster parents, while his mother heads for London to seek her fortune. After a brief introduction to Kitten's boyhood (his transvestite tendencies, his closest friends etc), the audience see how he discovers his origins, falls out with his foster parents, and sets out on a journey that eventually takes him to London in search of "The phantom lady", a name he gives fondly to his mother. Details of this amazing journey are best left to be discovered through the movie. Suffices to say that experienced along the way are things hilarious, bizarre, sweet, grotesque, violent, tender, poignant…….and that is just the beginning of this list of adjectives.The greatest challenge is to make Kitten not only believable, but lovable. The balance in the acting must be with absolute precision, as it is very easy to go overboard in one direction or the other. Although they are in fact quite different, the top-notch caliber of Cillian Murphy's acting can be compared to Felicity Huffman's in "Transamercia" (2005) in which she plays a pre-operative male-to-female transsexual. Obvious difference between the two characters aside, Murphy and Huffman each faces unique challenges. With Huffman, it's a woman playing a man wanting to be a women. With Murphy, it's the childlike innocence that I mentioned. Both excel.As I said, the wonders of this movie are best left to be discovered first-hand. One more thing, however, I must mention. As the story takes place in the 60s and 70s, the audience is treated to a sumptuous feast of popular songs from the period, whether it represents their personal trip down memory lane or music acquired from their parents.
Loved the movie, but a little long...very well done though.
posted on 10 Oct 2008I watched the whole movie on a Sunday, not knowing what to expect. I was blown away by the complicated story line, even though there were some silly not so believable parts. Otherwise, the photography, scenery and acting was so above par, it made me want to watch the whole movie again. Even though Stephen Rea, Liam, et al don't get great screen time, they are still very believable as their parts. While some scenes do drag out or may not be understandable due to English/Irish references, it's still very easy for Americans to follow, although the accents can be a bit hard to understand at times if you are not used to 'foreign films". *spoiler ahead*. Even though one of the characters becomes pregnant, you don't really care for her or her circumstances, or why she is "Paddy's" friend, nor do you care for the jerk she slept with. The scene with the lead band singer and "kitten" was very strange because the relationship was not believable at all, but the additions of the guns in the camper made it at least interesting to find out what happened. It's still a great, emotionally charged movie and even if you see the character as slow and dim witted, you still have heart what happens to him. Also cudos for the cast for adding a person with Down's Syndrome in the film.
The best film of the year by far!
posted on 03 Jul 2009I have now seen this film twice, and I think it is the year's best film by far. Cillian Murphy performance is absolutely astonishing. He should get an Oscar for sure. Both of the viewings I went to for this film were followed by a standing ovation, and lots of tears from many audience members. It is a modern day fairy tale, told in the most devastatingly beautiful way. can honestly not say enough good things about this film, and especially Cillian Murphy's performance. I personally have never been touched by a film like I have by this one. There is so much honesty, love and innocence. It is absolutely beautiful. I Please go see this film. It is truly an incredible experience.