Intergalactic Chihuahua smuggler Pluto Nash has only been out of his lunar jail for a few hours when he’s forced to make a fast career change. While he’s in his friend Tony Francis’ run-down bar, a couple of gangsters show up, strap Tony to a chair and threaten to pour acid down his throat unless he pays back a hefty loan. In full. At once. Pluto offers the ruffians a deal: Free my friend, give me the bar and I’ll get the money to you. Seven years later he’s not only repaid the debt, he also has the most profitable nightclub in the moon’s Little America. Life is good. That is, until the mysterious Morgan stops by Club Pluto and offers to buy it for his boss, the doubly-mysterious Rex Crater. Pluto refuses, only to have his club firebombed. On the run with his antiquated but trusty android bodyguard Bruno and a down-on-her-luck singer named Dina, Pluto has to discover Crater’s true identity or die trying.
positive elements: The filmmakers go out of their way to make sure audiences know that Pluto is generous and kind-hearted. Not only does he save Tony from disfigurement and death, he also gives him advice about his struggling music career, advice that later makes Tony the moon’s biggest star. When Dina shows up on Club Pluto’s doorstep asking for help getting back to Earth, Pluto provides a job for her. After being asked to bring drinks up to Pluto’s room, Dina tells a coworker that she won’t provide any sexual favors for her boss; the coworker reassures her that she needn’t worry about that with Pluto. In several scenes, Pluto saves Dina’s life from the marauding Morgan and he even eventually helps her fulfill her dream of becoming a club singer. Pluto’s relationship with the android Bruno confirms his compassionate nature. Despite the fact that Bruno is horribly outdated and does a pretty poor job of defending his boss, Pluto refuses to trade him in for another model since the two have developed a friendship. Gambling is generally frowned upon in the film. Viewers learn that Rex Crater wants to turn the moon into one big casino. Pluto refuses to sell his club because he wants to keep Little America free from gambling. (Pluto does, however, bet on a game of pool.)
spiritual content: Dina began her singing career by performing at weddings, bar mitzvahs and reincarnation ceremonies.
sexual content: Three words: Androids. Sex. Jokes. Bruno is repeatedly the butt of both visual and verbal humor throughout the film, from his second sentence until the closing scene. He flirts with a number of scantily clad androids, one of which—a “French Maid” model owned by Pluto—has the disconcerting habit of repeatedly dropping objects and bending down to pick them up. Upon seeing her, Bruno slaps her on the rear. In return, he receives a slap on the face (which seems to delight him). While sneaking into Crater’s casino, an amorous automated slot machine tails Bruno, urging him to “get lucky.” When a frustrated Bruno rips its arm off, it moans excitedly and calls him “a sick b—–d.” After running low on energy, Bruno gets a jump start by having a battery clipped to a small metal bar in his crotch. And he laments his chances of hooking up with another android he’s fond of since they aren’t “compatible” (he’s 110 volts and she’s 220).
Humans aren’t immune to crude jesting either. One painfully long gag involves Pluto and Dina looking for clues about Rex Crater while visiting a body alteration clinic as a married couple. Pluto details to the doctor which intimate areas of Dina he wants changed and exactly how they should look. They then proceed to a scanning machine which displays their new and improved bodies clad only in skimpy matching underwear. After finding “the perfect wife,” Tony has her cloned and marries both. When asked which is the original, he quips, “Who cares?” Several incidental characters wear skimpy costumes.
violent content: Lasers blast, fights break out and anti-gravity cars rocket over the lunar landscape at breakneck speeds. But while the action may be frequent and intense, it’s never bloody. An early scene finds Pluto charging into a bar where everyone is gunning for him. He grabs one of Morgan’s henchman to use as a human shield (the henchman is quickly shot and the resulting firefight guts the bar). Similar confrontations at a hotel and a storage dump ratchets up the human and android body count. A car chase ends in a fiery explosion. The final confrontation with Crater turns into an extended brawl that ends in a shooting. One character falls to his death. Another is electrocuted.
crude or profane language: While not as profane as the R-rated 48 Hours and Beverly Hills Cop movies, it is still wise for moviegoers to remember that this is still an Eddie Murphy movie and contains a quantity of foul language. About 50 profanities appear in the film, including over 15 uses of the s-word. There are also over half-a-dozen abuses of God’s name.
drug and alcohol content: Pluto’s club does a thriving business in alcohol and he offers free drinks to a man who’s about to be divorced (he’s out on a “bachelor party”). Pluto mixes his own martinis by drinking directly from the bottle and swishing the gin and vermouth in his mouth. Several times he smokes cigars. After rejecting Rex Crater’s initial offer to buy the club, Pluto offers to send him a case of scotch to make amends.
other negative elements: Bruno makes an obscene gesture to Morgan and his thugs. To find Carter, Pluto indulges in illegal activities, impersonating a police officer, stealing a car and hacking into police files.
conclusion: An unwitting homage to both Beverly Hills Cop and The Fifth Element, The Adventures of Pluto Nash has been getting bad press since Warner Bros. first delayed its release in April 2001. (It was subsequently delayed twice more.) The studio blamed special effects tinkering and a number of re-shoots. Internet gossip intimated that the studio was embarrassed by the movie’s boring plot and lame premise. But Pluto has been taking heat for all the wrong reasons. Sexual baggage and profane potholes spoil this good-hearted trip far more effectively than a run-of-the-mill script and so-so special effects.
