Remember when a movie like Best Defense was considered an aberration in Eddie Murphy's initially brilliant career? Not since Burt Reynolds has an actor so mystifyingly squandered his audience's good will. The Adventures of Pluto Nash languished in the studio's vault for nearly two years before it came crashing down to earth immediately following its theatrical release. One hundred million dollars never looked so cheesy as in this overstuffed, special effects-laden production in which Murphy plays a former smuggler who runs the most popular lunar nightclub in the moon-based colony of Little America in the year 2080, but is forced to go on the lam after refusing to sell out to the mob. Rosario Dawson, so forgettable in Men in Black II, is the bland love interest, while Randy Quaid fares better as Nash's antiquated robot bodyguard. But mostly you can see the sweat as Murphy strains to breathe some oxygen into a script sporting jokes as lethally unfunny as kryptonite. Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include four additional scenes, a three-minute making-of featurette on the “Ain't No Need” music video by IMX, the actual “Ain't No Need” music video, cast and crew filmographies, a trailer, and DVD-ROM features. Bottom line: none of these paltry extras answer the central question: why was this film made?] (K. Lee Benson)
The Adventures of Pluto Nash
Warner, 95 min., PG-13, VHS: $22.98, DVD: $26.98 Volume 18, Issue 2
The Adventures of Pluto Nash
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As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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