The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002) Parent Guide

Eddie Murphy has taken his standup comedy routine and morphed it into a movie career including characters like the verbally gifted veterinarian in Dr. Dolittle, the voice of the exasperated donkey in Shrek, and almost all of the Klump clan in the Nutty Professor series. Now the star is rocketing out of this world and into orbit as Pluto Nash, a former smuggler who runs a successful business on the moon.

The year is 2087 and Nash has transformed a rundown watering hole into Little America’s most profitable nightclub. His booming operation allows him to show some generosity, in this case to a pretty Earthling named Dina Lake (Rosario Dawson) who is trying to earn enough money to get back to the blue planet.

In the meantime, the local bar patrons aren’t the only ones aware of Club Pluto’s alluring draw. As the city’s council members prepare to legalize gambling, mobsters make Nash a sizeable offer to buy his hot spot with plans to turn it into a gaming establishment. But when he refuses their proposal, the thugs move in with blazing space-aged pistols to phase out the reluctant owner and his robotic bodyguard, Bruno (Randy Quaid).

On the run with Dina and the antiquated android, Nash resorts to car theft, fraud, bribery and illegally accessing police files to help him find the man behind the takeover attempt. Even his heat-packing mother (Pam Grier) and an old law enforcement friend (Peter Boyle) step in to help with the chase but Nash isn’t prepared for his face-to-face meeting with the reclusive king pin who wants to take over his turf.

If you thought starting a new society in outer space would alleviate all the social ills, think again. Crooks and cons slink around the lunar surface carrying some heavy-duty firepower. Along with the liberal shoot ‘em up scenes and car chases, there are some barely dressed dancers, computer enhanced body parts and a heavy showering of profanities and sexual commentary.

While The Adventures of Pluto Nash offers a smattering of galactic guffaws, the content may be outside most families’ viewing trajectories.

Starring Eddie Murphy, Randy Quaid, Rosario Dawson. Running time: 93 minutes. Theatrical release August 15, 2002. Updated July 17, 2017

About author

Kerry Bennett

Kerry Bennett is interested in media from both a journalist and parent perspective. Along with authoring articles for several family-oriented publications, she has written for Parent Previews for over 15 years. As a parent herself, she believes parents play a powerful role in teaching media literacy in their homes.