Breakfast of Champions (1999)

Memorable, crazy movie

The movie is wildly uneven but lively and timely - in its own surreal way

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

This movie had an excellent cast and was based on a wonderful book by Kurt Vonnegut. So what went wrong?Most of the performances were a bit over the top but that wasn't the movie's main failing. There was a character, Dwayne's wife, who shouldn't have been in the movie at all except in possible flashbacks before she committed suicide. This still wasn't the movie's biggest fault. The biggest problem was the ending. Anyone who's ever read Vonnegut knows that happy endings aren't forthcoming. Dwayne shouldn't have reconciled with his son and wife (who, as mentioned earlier, was dead). It's too tidy and Vonnegut was anything but tidy.But probably the saddest part to me is that they actually had Vonnegut in the film without including the wonderful scene from the novel in which he interacts with the character Kilgore Trout. That alone could have saved this movie from all its other shortcomings.

Alan Rudolph did a fine job of bringing my favourite Kurt Vonnegut novel to the screen. The casting selection was excellent, everyone gets their characters down very well. Albert Finney was probably the highlight, his characterisation of Kilgore Trout was just perfect. Bruce Willis, Barbara Hershey, Nick Nolte, Lukas Hass, Omar Epps, and Glenne Headly were also all fabulous in their roles. The tone of the film was a near perfect reflection of the tone of the book; a mix of whimsy, paranoia, confusion, and alienation.However, I can see this as being the sort of film you either love or hate. You either get it, or you don't. If you're not the sort of person who understands that humour and suffering can be the same thing, it's probably not a film you'll enjoy. I think that the key to much of Vonnegut's writing, and Rudolph and his cast do a beautiful job of bringing that to the screen.

Maybe I just didn't get it, but I thought this was the worst movie I had ever seen. The story made no sense, it dragged on forever. Some of the best actors on the planet did some of the worst acting I've ever seen. All in all, it was like psychological torture to watch this thing. The only reason I watched the whole movie was because I wanted to see if it could possibly stay that bad all the way through or if it was going to get better. It was a strange state of disbelief, i couldn't believe something could be that bad. It never did get better, it was terrible right 'til the end. At least that's my opinion. In conclusion unless you like death by slow torture, or you're in to really bizarre movies, don't watch this one.

This movie is the worst film I'we ever seen. I tried to see it three times but fell asleep EVERY TIME (so you can't blame me for trying). I did this to try to understand this film and maybe find the hidden wisdom behind it all. Needless to say, I never found it. This movie tries to be crazy, smart and innovative but ends up to be unbelievable boring and idiotic. The movie is a waste of money and talent. I consider "Barfly" being a smart movie, "Eternal sunshine of a spotless movie" a crazy movie and "Fight club" an innovative movie, "Breakfast of champions" didn't live up to any of these good qualities. If you are planning to rent this movie, read a book instead.