Breakfast on Pluto is one of those beautiful packets with not a very interesting content could have benefit the movie.
Patrick (Cillian Murphy) is an abandoned child raised by a foster family in the very catholic very conservative Ireland of the sixties. Very early in his childhood, assumed his homosexuality without any real conflict (perhaps a couple of shocks by his foster parents) and starts in a "Forrest Gay Gump" odyssey through the UK changing politics from the sixties to the eighties. The movie is a perpetual searching for his mother who left him in the door of a Catholic priest when he was a little baby.
Many things happen in the movie, but everything is taken very superficial. There are almost no dramatic conflict about Patrick homosexuality, the IRA killings and politics (just a couple of murders never clearly explained). Historic events are so over sighted that barely register in the public (unless of course you lived there or know Ireland conflictive history).
Directed by one of the most brilliant Irish directors and populated by the cream of Ireland's cinema (Neil Jordan, Liam Neeson, Stephen Rea, Brendan Gleeson and Cillian Murphy) the movie feels like a big disappointment. It is quite difficult to understand that a movie with such a subject matter could be so awfully shallow.
Even more difficult, is believe that aside for a couple of tragic dead, this is really a light comedy (never gross), but most of the jokes (and dialogue) requires a lot of familiarly with Irish English (some subtitles might be welcomed).
The length of the movie, is also too much. It could have benefited being half an hour shorter with less story lines. The Stephen Rea (excellent as always) magician feels added only to give him something to do (probably a job).
However, not everything is bad. The acting is superb (cannot expect less with such a cast) but the music will make you run to near music shop buy the CD. A piece of advice, do it in the middle of the movie, you will not loose too much.