MovieChat Forums > Breakfast of Champions (1999) Discussion > I have read every one of Vonnegut's book...

I have read every one of Vonnegut's books...

posted 18 years ago by ChillYoda
6 replies | jump to latest

...at least once. Many I have read twice, and three I have read three times. One of those three is Breakfast of Champions. I LOVE Vonnegut. He is by far my favorite author of all time and always will be. And BOC is one of my favorite books by my very favorite author. Did I make my point yet?
Vonnegut is very difficult to adapt to film. If you've read his books, you understand why. Oh sure, you read them with these incredible visions in your head. But just think of how hard it would be to develop those visions into a movie...
Rudolph did a decent job. I rate the movie a 7 because I am dying to see each and every Vonnegut book in movie form. If it was THAT horrible (c'mon, the average vote is a 4.2!?) I would have been sorely disappointed, and I was not. I enjoyed the film. It was funny and poignant and got across many of the points that Vonnegut made in the novel. Most of the performances were top-notch as well.
I had major problems with the tone of the film, though. From the music to the camera angles, it just could have been better and didn't have that "Vonnegut feel" (although I challenge anyone to define what that is and how to put it in to film! Yes, I have my ideas too, but...). But once I got past that, I allowed myself to enjoy it independently from the book.
It's worth seeing whether you've read the book or not. I would think that true Vonnegut fans would crave more and more of him, and a film adaptation of one of his books - that is obviously not a throw-away (let's not talk about Slapstick and Wanda June - ughhhhh) - would satisfy a little.
I just don't get why this movie is rated so low. I gave it a seven, and I understand the general populace would rate it lower, but 4.2 is ridiculous.
It's just NOT THAT BAD. You're over-doing it people!

- Oh, the usual. I bowl. Drive around. The occasional acid flashback.

[–] OrangesforJake 18 years ago

I just bought the movie, because I found it for 2$ and was like, what the hell? I havent yet seen it, and expected it not to be brilliant. (Otherwise I would have heard SOMETHING, right?) However, I do wonder how some Vonnegut would work as movies. I mean, too much of his stuff goes around in circles, which is fantastic for literature, but movie-wise. I am just finishing Hocus-Pocus, and though that switches time a lot, could it be made into a movie? I was wondering what you thought, because I think that, though no Vonnegut will totally capture his brilliant commentary/style, his stories alone are good enough for the screen. Well, thats my two cents, looking for others.

[–] sublime2643 18 years ago

im a little worried about the adaption of cats cradle coming out.

"This is your life, and its ending one minute at a time"

[–] Prutnumse 18 years ago

Like you, I'm an avid Vonnegut fan, although his later works don't quite measure up I.M.O. And I agree that his novels are pretty hard to put to film - not so much the stories as the special Vonnegut 'feel'. One movie that does it for me, though, is Slaughterhouse 5. I think that one caught the novel spot on.

I haven't seen BOC yet, but they're airing it tonight... ...dunno, maybe I'll catch it.

[–] ChillYoda 18 years ago

Yes, actually S5 really did get the job done quite well. I have to see it again; it's been a while.
But I forgot about Mother Night initially. That film was really very good; a much better overall movie than BOC. It came closer to the Vonnegut feel but didn't quite capture it completely. Which was OK because that movie can really exist on its own.
And I just heard about Cat's Cradle, but I have no information whatsoever. It's amazing that there wouldn't be a cracked Hollywood team working on such an undertaking. I mean, it's Vonnegut for godssake (one of his best)! It's sacred material. It sounds like the folks working on it don't have such great credentials, but we'll see what happens. We can only hope!

- Oh, the usual. I bowl. Drive around. The occasional acid flashback.

[–] Edward_de_Vere 18 years ago

I like Vonnegut's novels also, I just don't think they lend themselves well to filming. His books work because Vonnegut's humorous descriptions and remarks compensate for lack of plot and cartoonish characters. When filmed, all you're left with is the lack of plot and cartoonish characters.

I didn't think "Breakfast of Champions" was a successful movie by any means, but I didn't find it much worse than "Slaughterhouse Five" which everyone thinks was a good adaptation. The only translation of Vonnegut to film that I thought was truly successful was "Mother Night." It misses some of V's humor, but it compensates because in that particular case there was an interesting story and a good character that worked well on film.

[–] shibbyua2005 18 years ago

Although I enjoy Vonnegut, I don't think that his books should be put to film. One because of his writing, there is no way that a screen writer would be able to capture everything that Vonnegut talks about to his books and in his books. I just wish people could read his books and that way no one would have to adapt it for the movies, which it would do poorly because most people haven't read the books and don't understand what is going on.

my 2 cents