This is the other Kurt Vonnegut Jr. adaptation I watched in tribute to his passing: basically, it offers the same moral as SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE (1972) - which, at least, shows a consistency within the author's work. The film's general tone is a surreal one, and its satire on media and the business world (where everyone demonstrates a slick and confident veneer but is actually suffering from various hang-ups) is generally interesting and occasionally amusing, but also chaotic and somewhat heavy-handed. A good cast tries hard - Bruce Willis (in yet another attempt at a dramatic role as a man who has everything but sees no point to his life), Albert Finney (as the ageing unappreciated writer, whose work has only ever been published in porn magazines, suddenly exalted to the status of a philosopher) and especially Nick Nolte (as a cross-dressing executive). I seem to recall that this film was barely released and got universally panned by critics at the time but it's hardly a catastrophe; there is also a nicely animated credit sequence and the playful score helps smooth over some of the film's rougher patches.

Wow. I have never seen a more awful adaptation of a wonderful book. If Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. were dead, he'd be rolling in his grave. I don't think Alan Rudolph even read the book...MAYBE he read the "Cliff's Notes." Everything that Vonnegut made captivating in Breakfast of Champions was completely spat upon in this movie. That it used many of his sketches from the novel is the only real positive thing I can say. Bruce Willis was a surprisingly convincing Dwayne Hoover. Glenne Headly was well-cast as Francine Pefko. The rest of the cast selection could have been done just as well picking names out of a hat.I understand the necessity of removing back story and minor sub-plots when adapting a novel to the big screen, but so much was lost here that I wouldn't have been able to follow the story had it not been for the fact that I've read the book so many times.To the user who called this a drama, you are wrong. Vonnegut did not write dramas, he wrote dark comedies. There is a fine, yet crucial difference between the two. This movie failed on so many levels to achieve even a fraction of what Vonnegut said.

what was once just my favorite kurt vonnegut novel is so much more. now it is also my least enjoyed film of 1999. better yet, make that the most annoying film of 1999 because that is what this movie was like for me. sitting thru this movie felt the same as having a room full of semi-articulate know-it-all's try and out-talk each other. add in a topic of discussion of how to get the job done, and the fact that instead of actually doing the work they only talk, leaving you to do all the work, and you have a glimmer of how infuriating this movie was for me. back to the movie...it was just too too much. it was too loud, the camera angles were too extreme, the colors too vivid. had one of these area been moderated the others could have gone in excess and been appreciated. instead i sat with my head in hands clenching my jaw and my little fists with my hands.

If you go for the more wacky Coen Brothers movies, if you enjoyed Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, if Ed Wood is a hero of yours and John Waters films feel like home movies then you're sure to enjoy this SCTV like nutcase of a movie. Bruce Willis turns in his most outrageous film presentation as our hero car salesman Dwayne Hoover having the crackup of a lifetime and through it all his Exit 11 Care Sale tv commercials keep broadcasting over and over and over and over. Hallucinations ,crossdressing, pill popping it's all part of life in Midland City. Costarring, Nick Nolte, Owen Wilson, Glenne Headly, Barbara Hershey & Albert Finney.