Marty McKee’s review published on Letterboxd:
I come not to bash THE ADVENTURES OF PLUTO NASH, but to praise it, if only faintly. The numbers don’t lie, of course. One of the costliest failures in Warner Brothers history, this soft PG-13 Eddie Murphy comedy opened in tenth place (!) among savage reviews. Rumors of reshoots and behind-the-scenes calamities were legend. Warners kept the film languishing on the shelf for two years before finally dumping it into 2300 theaters with no advance screenings and no publicity by Murphy. Critics couldn’t wait to rip PLUTO NASH apart, and Warners seems to have wanted the movie to fail. And the thing of it is, PLUTO NASH is better than all that.
A likable romp refreshingly free of scatological and insult humor, PLUTO NASH is basically a B-western set on the moon with a handsome hero (Murphy), a cute love interest (Rosario Dawson), a goofy comic sidekick (Randy Quaid with a seriously weird performance), snarling heavies, and lots of shoot-’em-up action. In the future of 2087, the Moon is like Space Vegas with enough neon to awaken Dean Martin from the dead to do two shows a night. Murphy’s Pluto Nash is an ex-con who runs a saloon called Club Pluto, a nice, clean, trouble-free place with plenty of dining, dancing, and funky DJ mixing. He’s sort of an interplanetary Mr. Lucky, the kind of guy who not only knows everybody who is anybody, but is owed a favor by them.
Nash could use a favor or two when he runs afoul of lunar mobster Rex Crater, who has become so frustrated by Nash’s refusal to sell Club Pluto that he just blows the whole damn place up. In his effort to control the moon’s gambling circuit, Crater and his main gunsel Mogen (Joe Pantoliano) wants Nash dead, sending Pluto on the run with Dina and his clanky robot companion Bruno (Quaid in an eccentric performance).
I dunno. Not to build it up too much, but I find THE ADVENTURES OF PLUTO NASH difficult to dislike. All the pieces for a fun comic adventure are here, and while the screenplay by Neil Cuthbert (MYSTERY MEN) could have been sharper, director Ron Underwood (CITY SLICKERS) delivers. Murphy is relaxed and confident — if the rumors of production rancor are true, he shows no signs of it — in a Cary Grant role that fits him as easily as the tuxedo he dons late in the picture.
Backing up Murphy and the actors mentioned above is a strong group of supporting players, none of whom are used to their potential, but all give their all: Jay Mohr, Pam Grier, Peter Boyle, John Cleese, Illeana Douglas, Luis Guzman, James Rebhorn, Burt Young, even Alec Baldwin. Designer Bill Brzeski’s tacky moonscape, assembled like a dervish cut loose with BLADE RUNNER blueprints, is delightful, as is John Powell’s heroic score.
Believe it or not, the movie makes jokes about both Trump and Hillary Clinton. Prescient!