Breakfast of Champions (1999)
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26% of critics liked it
(46 reviews) -
31% of users liked it
(5,918 ratings)
In a small American town called Midland City, Dwayne Hoover (Bruce Willis) -- a loyal father, a successful car dealer, and a respected member of the community --lives with his wife Celia (Barbara Hershey), who's addicted to pills and TV shows, and his son Bunny (Lukas Haas), who is a weakling.… More In a small American town called Midland City, Dwayne Hoover (Bruce Willis) -- a loyal father, a successful car dealer, and a respected member of the community --lives with his wife Celia (Barbara Hershey), who's addicted to pills and TV shows, and his son Bunny (Lukas Haas), who is a weakling. What's more, his best friend and employee Harry Le Sabre (Nick Nolte) is a paranoid red-lace-lingerie fetishist. Dwayne finds short-term consolation in the arms of his secretary and mistress, Francine (Glenne Headley). As the American Dream slowly becomes his nightmare, Hoover begins to retreat into a fantasy world, filled with strange voices and fearful visions. It takes only the arrival of third-rate science-fiction writer Kilgore Trout (Albert Finney) -- whose novels are turned into fourth-rate porno comics -- at the Midland City Art Festival for things to explode. Hoover's only hope is Kilgore, whom he has raised to the status of a guru in his fantasies. However, the two men meet when time, space, and reality have already lost their meaning. Now it is only nonsense that makes sense and madness that reigns; the American dream has turned into lunacy. Breakfast of Champions, which had its world premiere during the 49th International Berlin Film Festival in 1999, is the outcome of a project in the making for over twenty years. Director Alan Rudolph wrote the script when the novel by Kurt Vonnegut was first published. However, it took all this time (and perhaps the casting of someone like Bruce Willis in order to get it financed) for the project to be realized. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi
- Directed By
- Alan Rudolph
- Written By
- Alan Rudolph
- Genres
- Comedy
R,
- In Theaters
- Sep 17, 1999 Wide
- Studio
- Buena Vista Pictures
Critic Reviews
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Michael Atkinson, Mr. Showbiz
Breakfast of Champions is a spectacular failure.
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Jay Carr, Boston Globe
A misfire.
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Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
Unwatchable!
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Jonathan Foreman, New York Post
Tasteless adaptation makes for flaky Breakfast.
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Robert Horton, Film.com
Breakfast of Champions is a weirdly stillborn experience.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Bruce Willis
as Dwayne Hoover
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Albert Finney
as Kilgore Trout
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Nick Nolte
as Harry Le Sabre
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Barbara Hershey
as Celia Hoover
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Glenne Headly
as Francine Pefko
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Lukas Haas
as Bunny Hoover
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Omar Epps
as Wayne Hoobler
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Buck Henry
as Fred T. Barry
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Vicki Lewis
as Grace Le Sabre
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Ken Hudson Campbell
as Eliot Rosewater/Gilbert
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Jake Johannsen
as Bill Bailey
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Will Patton
as Moe
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Chip Zien
as Andy Wojeckowzski
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Owen Wilson
as Monte Rapid
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Alison Eastwood
as Maria Maritmo
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Shawnee Smith
as Bonnie MacMahon
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Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
as Commercials Director
