Review of Breakfast of Champions (1999) by Stuart K — 30 Jun 2009

There are some books that should never be adapted for the big screen. Bringing Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s 1973 book to the big screen was a challenge in itself, because the original book had no fixed plot, and because of the descriptive nature, Vonnegut Jr.

's works are not very cinematic. Although, writer/director Alan Rudolph and star Bruce Willis seemed to think differently, and went ahead with a screen version of the book. Set in the odd yet idyllic Mid-Western town of Midland City, it focuses mainly on Dwayne Hoover (Brucie) a successful Pontiac car dealer who has it all, but his whole life is going to pieces, his business associate Harry LeSabre (Nick Nolte) is a cross-dresser, and Hoover is a depressive mess who is losing his mind.

He becomes obsessed with the works of obscure sci-fi author Kilgore Trout (Albert Finney), who is coming to an arts festival in Midland City. It's a mad psychedelic film on the deconstruction of the American Dream, this is hard to follow, but it doesn't know what it wants to be.

Madcap comedy or offbeat drama or dark fantasy. It's well made, and it's got good performances to it's name, but it doesn't make sense most of the time and it's very hollow. David Lynch would have done better with this.