The Adventures of Pluto Nash

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The Adventures of Pluto Nash
Image:Pluto Nash.jpg
Directed by	Ron Underwood
Produced by	Martin Bregman Michael Scott Bregman Louis A. Stroller
Written by	Neil Cuthbert
Starring	Eddie Murphy Randy Quaid Rosario Dawson Joe Pantoliano Jay Mohr Luis Guzmán James Rebhorn Peter Boyle with Pam Grier and John Cleese
Cinematography	Oliver Wood
Editing by	Alan Heim and Paul Hirsch
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	August 16, 2002
Running time	95 min.
Language	English
Budget	$110 million
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Adventures of Pluto Nash is a 2002 comedy film directed by Ron Underwood and starring Eddie Murphy as the owner of a lunar nightclub investigating who was behind the arson that destroyed his club.

The film was highly unsuccessful. Its budget was estimated at (U.S.) $100 million, with marketing costs of $20 million and the domestic box office (of which the studio typically receives about half) was $4,420,080 and $2,683,893 (overseas) for a total worldwide gross of $7,103,973. Eddie Murphy poked fun at himself in an interview with Barbara Walters about this movie by saying: "I know 2 or 3 people that liked this movie."^[1] Not even a US DVD rental gross of $25,400,000 could rescue the film into breaking even. ^[2]

The movie had its origins in the mid-1980s. The script went through numerous revisions and, upon completion of filming, sat on the shelf for two years, finally being released in August 2002. The majority of critics lambasted the movie for its acting, dialogue, lack of humor, and very poor and crude special effects. It was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Picture. Murphy himself seemed to sense how bad the film was, and did nothing to promote it upon its release. Production began in April 2000, and wrapped up in September 2000. At one point, Jennifer Lopez was cast for the role of Dina in this film, but eventually turned it down. Rosario Dawson was cast in her place.

As of 2006 this is the sixth-largest financial loss of any film ever made (after, Stealth, Cutthroat Island, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, The Alamo, and Around the World in 80 Days), both in absolute dollar values, and adjusted for inflation.^{[citation needed]}

One reviewer pointed out that "Eddie Murphy and the crew on Pluto Nash could have saved money by throwing out the script and instead filming a documentary about the 360 of them eating $50 bills for two years."

1 Plot
2 References and footnotes
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Plot

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In the decade of 2080, on a lunar colony called Little America, a retired smuggler called Pluto Nash (Eddie Murphy) buys a nightclub, thus attempting to fulfill a longtime wish of his and additionally preventing the murder of the club's previous owner, Anthony Frankowski (Jay Mohr), by his creditors. Seven years later, "Club Pluto" has become a successful business, frequented by many socialites. Its staff consists of Pluto himself, a Hispanic assistant, and an anthropomorphic, android robot named Bruno (Randy Quaid). Anthony has become a stage performer, under the name of Tony Francis, and has become interplanetarily famous despite his inability to sing. As seen later in the film, during a performance at a hotel/casino, Tony's story (in as much as is covered by his performing career) is largely based on the history of Frank Sinatra. Tony's costume also resembles that of Frank Sinatra, as is his style of singing.

One night, Pluto is approached by a young woman called Dina Lake (Rosario Dawson), who has become stranded on the Moon and desires to earn money by which to pay for transport to Earth. Because her father, "Nicky Sticks", was a friend of Pluto's, she seeks help from Pluto, offering her skills as a singer. Pluto, instead, gives her a job as server at his club and allows her to remain after its nightly closure to the public. During the same night, Pluto is accosted thrice by messengers of a mysterious entrepreneur called Rex Crater, who wishes to buy Club Pluto and convert it into a gambling casino. Pluto refuses with increasing impatience, on the grounds that he dislikes both gambling and the fact that Rex Crater stands poised to convert the entire Moon into a metropolis of gamblers.

In reply to his refusal, Rex Crater's minions destroy Club Pluto and attempt to kill its owner. Pluto, Dina, and Bruno escape. They take refuge at the hotel called Garden of Paradise. Pluto seeks to investigate Rex Crater, of whom very few people know anything. From Rowland (Peter Boyle), a friend of his mother's, Pluto learns that Rex Crater is never seen outside of a penthouse in the city of Moon Beach, and that he has been involved with a geneticist called Runa Pendankin, who specialized in cloning before her death.

Pluto and Dina visit Doctor Runa Pendankin's apprentice, Mona Zimmer, who operates a cosmetic surgery station. They pose as a married couple attempting to revive their infatuation for one another by having their figures altered; after having seen, and adapted to their liking, several examples of commonly preferred bodily shapes and contours, they reveal that they have come for information regarding Doctor Pendankin's death. Mona Zimmer, having been intimidated by Pluto's bluffs, reveals that shortly prior to her death, Doctor Pendankin had worked for or with a Terrestrial criminal whose initials, inscribed on his briefcase, appear to have been "WZW". After her meetings with this man, the geneticist was anonymously killed.

Pluto and Dina return to the hotel, where they later meet Pluto's mother, Flura Nash (Pam Grier). Flura is very afraid for her son, but has full knowledge of his character and activities. She is able to hold her own in a fight, and views the loss of a friend as painful.

They are attacked by Rex Crater's assassins, who have tracked them to the hotel. Pluto takes Dina and Bruno to an abandoned smuggler's refuge located far away from any human settlement, where he intends both to hide and to continue his investigations. As a means of transportation, they steal a powerful car, whose internal mechanisms are directly operated by an anthropomorphic computer called James (John Cleese).

En route to the hideout, Pluto shares with Dina some of his memories of having come out of the cities, under the guardianship of Rowland, to view the beauty of the lunar skyscape. Dina, who has hitherto seen none of this, is brought to see it now. Exhausted by the day's activities, she sleeps.

Pluto, Bruno, and Dina enter the hideout upon arrival, leaving James outside. Once inside, they are greeted by a female-analogue android who serves as a janitor. While Bruno attempts to court this android – being that they are both programmed to generate sexual impulses – Dina explores the hideout while Pluto mounts an Internet-based search for any Terrestrial criminal with the initials "WZW". When this yields nothing, Dina suggests that the initials are in fact "MZM", having been seen upside-down by Mona Zimmer. Pluto searches for "MZM" and discovers a criminal called Michael Zoroaster Marucci, who left Earth and came to the Moon to escape the laws that convicted him. Pluto suspects that Michael Marucci and Rex Crater are one and the same. Abruptly, he is contacted by his mother, who tells him that Rowland has been killed. Viewers have already seen Rowland's betrayal by a man whom he believed to be his friend. It is suggested or implied that the betrayer was not the friend in question, but a clone of him.

Unexpectedly, the hideout is attacked by Rex Crater's agents. Pluto, Dina, Bruno, and James escape the hideout's destruction, whereupon the assassins pursue them in their own vehicle. A chase ensues. To conclude it, Pluto attempts a "rill-hop"; a technique wherein a vehicle is caused to leap over or into one of the massive geologic formations known as rills. He succeeds, though in the process James' engine is damaged. Pluto, Bruno, and Dina abandon the car, which explodes. The enemies assume their quarry to be dead, and so cease the pursuit.

The fugitives attempt the long journey to Moon Beach on foot. Eventually, Pluto and Dina consume the entire supply of oxygen contained in their space suits. They lose the use of their senses. Bruno, being a robot, is unaffected by lack of oxygen; he picks up the insensate humans and carries them until his own battery's energy is exhausted. He stands still, with the two humans hanging from his hands.

Moments later, a large automobile arrives. Its driver, Felix Laranga (Luis Guzmán), a smuggler who idolizes Pluto Nash, brings Pluto and Dina into his car and revives them. Upon learning who he has rescued, Felix enthusiastically offers his help. At Pluto's request, Felix takes Dina, Pluto, and Bruno to Moon Beach and supplies them with disguises. They infiltrate Rex Crater's casino/hotel. Pluto makes plans to contact Tony Francis, who will perform there, and ask his help in entering Rex Crater's penthouse.

On the orders of the hotel/casino's management, Bruno is impounded in accordance with their regulations, after breaking the operating lever of an anthropomorphic, doxy-like slot machine robot. He remains, for perhaps an hour, in an enclosed room with several other android robots.

Pluto and Dina are guests at Tony's performance, which is popularly liked. During the performance, Pluto notices several men scrutinizing the guests. Fearing that they are searching for him, Pluto hides his face by sexually kissing Dina. Although the kiss is a ruse, Dina enjoys it.

Later, Pluto and Dina enter Tony's rooms, where they meet Tony's two wives. These wives, Gina and Philomena, look alike, speak with identical voices and act out the same (often flattering) behaviors simultaneously. Tony explains that one of them is a clone of the other, though he does not remember which. Throughout Tony's rooms are other articles, such as a Chihuahua dog and wooden furniture, that – according to comments uttered by Pluto during the story – can only be illegally brought to the Moon.

Tony offers a plan to Pluto, wherein Pluto would leap from Tony's personal elevator to that of Rex Crater, enter through the top, fight the occupants, and ride it to Rex Crater's penthouse. Pluto refuses. They are captured by Rex Crater's aide Belcher.

When the bill for the repairs to the slot machine has not been sent, Bruno tricks the manager of admissions into freeing him, then joins Dina in her wish to rejoin Pluto. They, too, are captured by Rex Crater's agents.

Pluto is taken by Belcher to the penthouse, where he is to meet Rex Crater. He accuses Rex Crater of being Michael Marucci; at this, Rex Crater reveals himself to be a clone of Pluto, created by Runa Pendankin from Pluto's removed appendix, to act as public face of Michael Marucci's illegal activities. Rex Crater, supplemented by Belcher, reveals additionally that he killed Michael Marucci in order to assume control of the crimes.

Dina and Bruno are brought into the penthouse, where they (as well as the assassins who had previously attempted to kill them) are surprised to learn the truth of Rex Crater's identity. Rex Crater cheerfully kills the assassins, whom he views as useless to him as a result of their failure to capture or kill Pluto. He then reveals that he intends to build a particularly "exclusive" (of all except the most opulent) casino on the site of Club Pluto. Disgusted, Pluto challenges him and later provokes a fight. The two look-alikes therefore struggle for control of Rex's pistol, while their respective friends look on helplessly. Because the senses cannot distinguish between Pluto and Rex, neither one's friends can interfere for fear of killing the wrong man.

At the climax of the fight, Pluto takes control of the gun and exposes Rex to the spectators. Both of them urge Belcher to kill his doppelganger. In order to convince Belcher to take his side, Pluto shoots Bruno; Belcher, who assumes that Pluto would not damage his own robot, shoots Rex causing Belcher and the other agents to flee when "Rex" orders them to. Pluto reveals his identity to Dina by speaking of her employment to him. Bruno is unharmed, due to the bulletproof shirt he was wearing underneath his clothes. Here, it appears that the weapons primarily favored by the characters combine the technologies of a LASER generator and a projectile launcher; whereas the shots are signified by flashes of light, commonly associated with LASER-based weapons, bullets are shown embedded in Rex's clothes.

Rex, who was also wearing a bulletproof shirt, recovers from having been shot and attempts to garrote Pluto by means of a wire obtained from his desk. Pluto, desperate to escape, throws him through a nearby window and into the casino below, where Rex dies landing on a gambling table.

Later, Pluto rebuilds his club, inviting both Tony and Felix to the opening festival. They arrive and make themselves comfortable. Felix is allowed to enjoy all that which the club has to offer without paying for it. Tony is shown visiting the club; here, it is implied that he (like Nicky Sticks before him) is given to lying about the history of his interactions with Pluto, so as to aggrandize himself. Dina becomes the club's lead singer, and Bruno is promoted to manager of the club's affairs. Pluto relaxes, having achieved his dreams at last.

Throughout the film, Pluto shows himself to be the least hedonistic of the film's characters. Whereas all of the other characters given a large role are given to hedonism and inclined (with the exceptions of Bruno, Flura, Rowland, and possibly Dina) to think of themselves first in any situation, Pluto is a determined, solemn person with a strict sense of honor and a great personal concern in the lives of his friends. Although he is not hesitant to kiss Dina or mispresent himself as her husband when either suits his purposes, he seems to see her more as one under his protection than as his sweetheart. He is nearly fearless and seems to have no pride in his former profession of smuggling. He never aggrandizes himself (unlike several of his friends), is utterly honest, and holds steadfastly to any aims.