Touchstone and Beyond: "Breakfast of Champions"

The film is a meal size serving of suburban insanity.

Marquee Attraction: Breakfast of Champions

Release Date: September 17, 1999

Budget: $12 million

Domestic Box Office Gross: $178,278

Plot Synopsis

Dwayne Hoover is a popular and successful car salesman, who is tittering on the edge of insanity. The commercials, the fame, and everyone wanting to know him and buy a car from his lot is driving poor Dwayne into another realm of mental breakdown.

Kilgore Trout is an author who has little fame but is invited to Midland City to speak about his work. In the very same city as Dwayne Hoover, Trout proceeds to come so that he can see some respect given for his talent.

In Midland City, everyone is getting excited for the upcoming festival that will see the arrival of Kilgore Trout, but Dwayne Hoover is anxiously looking for a way to escape. He can’t trust his sales manager Harry, his wife Celia wants little to do with him, and if he is forced to endure the plight of working at the car lot, Dwayne is apt to run away.

It will take magic and chance for Dwayne and Kilgore to meet, and perhaps the infamous literary wonder will have a positive effect on the downtrodden Dwayne.

Standing Ovation

The movie was a box office disaster, but having sat through many questionable Bruce Willis films, I think Breakfast of Champions is a bold choice for the actor, and I give him credit for taking the leap in playing such a different character than what he is used to. Dwayne Hoover is not John McClane, and that’s a good thing. Willis captures the mood of Dwayne with his loud yelling, and manic look well. This role was a challenge for Bruce, and he rose to the occasion.

Nick Nolte playing the sleazy Harry Le Sabre was perfectly cast. Nolte in the 90’s did nothing wrong on the silver screen.

Time for the Hook

I don’t think this story needed the big screen treatment. I think the audience needs more time to connect with the town of Midland City and people to really appreciate what was happening. It would no doubt make a great series on Apple TV+.

Then again, maybe some books should stay a book and not become a film.

Bit Part Player

The always great Will Patton plays a tough as nails trucker Moe, that Kilgore hitches a ride with.

Did You Know?

Owen Wilson plays a small part in the film as Monte Rapid.
Alison Eastwood, Clint’s daughter, plays Maria.
Michael Clark Duncan also has a small role in the film.
The film grossed just over $40,000 on its opening weekend.
The movie is an adaptation of the Kurt Vonnegut novel of the same name.
Director Alan Rudolph was nominated for a Golden Berlin Bear at the 1999 Berlin International Film Festival.
The rights to the film were originally purchased by producer Dino De Laurentis for Director Robert Altman. Altman initially had Peter Falk cast as Dwayne and Alice Cooper as Bunny. The project never came to fruition and was put into turnaround. The film was originally planned to shoot in the late 1970’s. That’s a long time in turnaround hell.
A portrait of Kurt Vonnegut can be seen in Eliot Rosewater’s office.
Willis reportedly helped fund the production of the movie.
The artwork in the credits, and in Celia’s letters comes from Vonnegut’s own drawings that were in the novel.

Best Quotable Line

“It’s all life, until you're dead". This comes from Dwayne and tells everyone watching this film that he is not doing well.

Bill’s Hot Take

Kurt Vonnegut’s written work is a complex set of tales written by a man who has actively taken the written word in new directions. His stories occasionally deviate into madcap mayhem of insanity. That’s not meant as a criticism, it’s true. This film was never going to be a hit, because the audience for this story was limited at best, unless substantial changes were made during the writing of the screenplay.

Casting Call

Bruce Willis as Dwayne Hoover
Albert Finney as Kilgore Trout
Nick Nolte as Harry Le Sabre
Barbara Hershey as Celia Hoover
Glenne Headley as Francine Pefko
Lukas Haas as Bunny Hoover
Vicki Lewis as Grace Le Sabre
Omar Epps as Wayne Hoobler

Production Team:

Directed by Alan Rudolph

Produced by Hollywood Pictures / Summit Entertainment / Flying Heart Films / Rain City

Written by Alan Rudolph / Kurt Vonnegut

My Critical Response

{Snub-Skip this Film, Lifeboat Award-Desperate for Something to Watch, Commuter Comforter-A Perfect Film for Any Device, Jaw Dropper- You Must Watch This Film on a Big Screen, Rosebud Award- This Film is Cinema.}

I liked Breakfast of Champions but it’s not a great film. The subject matter of the story requires viewers to either be a fan of the book, or VERY open minded. The audience for this movie is limited.

Breakfast of Champions gets the Lifeboat Award. It’s not a bad movie, it’s just not a special movie, nor that it’s important to see. It’s perfect if you are desperate for something to watch.

Coming Soon

Next week, a look back at the Whoopi Goldberg film, Sarafina!