Breakfast on Pluto is based on the McCabe novel The Butcher Boy. It’s the story of Patrick Brady, a young man who is astutely aware at an early age that he is different. Yet he never seems to carry that as a burden. Abandoned as a baby in his small Irish hometown, he is left on the steps of a priest’s living quarters and then placed into a foster home.
From an early age he fancies wearing dresses and make up as casually as if he were putting on socks. This infuriates his foster mother and sister. He speaks his mind wherever he is, perfectly willing to accept the wrath of whatever consequences his remarks or actions bring. He is not, however, willing to accept efforts by the school that would have him conform to being anything other than who he is.
In the face of yet another tongue-lashing by his foster mother some years later, he calmly tells her, “Well, that’s it, I tried. I’m off then,” and promptly sets out on his own.
Without money or any real plan, his newfound independence proves to be rough. He sleeps in alleys, doorways, and anywhere someone will take him in, and yet seems to enjoy each new day.
Breakfast on Pluto
Set against the violent clash between the government and the IRA movement, his adventures land him in the middle of extreme and sometimes violent circumstances. At times he is the victim of those circumstances, yet never sees himself as a victim.
Breakfast On Pluto is a poignant character study of a gentle soul looking for love, who takes what life dishes out with a sweet refusal to let anyone or anything upset his inner balance. He is frail yet strong, innocent yet wise. He sets out in search of his mother only to find his father (in a strange twist of fate) instead.
Directed by Neil Jordan (Interview with the Vampire, The Crying Game) and starring Cillian Murphy and Liam Neeson. Breakfast on Pluto felt a little disjointed at times, but it is a story worth your time. 3 1/2 stars.