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has played characters from all over the world, ranging from Tibet (The
Golden Child) to L.A. (Beverly Hills Cop), and yet Eddie
Murphy is about to take on a place he's never been before - the moon.The Adventures of Pluto Nash is set in the year 2087, where Murphy plays Pluto, the owner of a very hip nightclub called The Blue Moon Club in the Little America section of the moon. The successful business is soon eyed by Rex Crater, the mysterious owner of several casinos who has plans to turn the club into yet another one of his gambling dens. Threatened with the prospect of losing his nightclub, Pluto sets out to find the identity of Rex and unintentionally becomes the leader of the lunar independence movement. Co-star Rosario Dawson (Men in Black II) plays the beautiful but feisty lounge singer Dina Lake, a beautiful earthling who moved to the moon to further her singing career. A role originally intended for Jennifer Lopez, it switched hands a few times including Halle Berry, before reaching Dawson. During the investigation, Vincent comes to understand that Pluto is also helped by bodyguard Bruno (Randy Quaid) - a robot quickly approaching obsolescence. Rounding out the cast is Pam Grier as Pluto's gun-toting mother, Flura, Joe Pantoliano as a mob thug and Jay Mohr as Pluto's best bud. |
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Grier admits she has always wanted to work with Eddie Murphy. "During the filming of one of the scenes I had with Eddie, I could not get through the scene," says Grier. "I had to bite my tongue so I would not laugh; I am like this big kid. I had this great time and I think what comes out of working in a relaxed environment is that you leave room for spontaneity and creativity." Murphy agrees the set offered a lot of laughs. "Pam is a wonderful actress and I have been a fan of hers for years. It is fun to work with people who have a background in comedy." And what's life like on the moon in 2087? Well, not much different than the way we live now. Director Ron Underwood says "life is pretty much as we know it today with all the foibles of mankind that we have brought up to the moon from Earth. They have pretty much the same problems that we have down here. What to do with the garbage; that kind of thing." To create the moon, the filmmakers found an empty warehouse and built an entire moon city. Randy Quaid was amazed. "When I walked on to the set, I was just knocked out by it," he says. "I couldn't believe the detail. It puts you in a different world." Filmed in Montreal, the estimated $80 million production was overseen by Underwood (Mighty Joe Young, City Slickers). No stranger to mixing sci-fi with comedy, Underwood made his feature film directorial debut in 1990 with Tremors, which became a sleeper hit. With the combined talents of screenwriters Neil Cuthbert (Mystery Men), Kevin Wade (Working Girl) and Andrew and Adam Scheinman (Bait), Murphy's first experience in the sci-fi genre should be a memorable one. Pam Grier sums up the film this way: "This is the Eddie Murphy of 48HRS. meeting The Jetsons." - Jane Sanderson |