Breakfast on Pluto

Who's in It: Cillian Murphy, Liam Neeson, Stephen Rea, Brendan Gleeson, Gavin Friday, Ian Hart

The Basics: Patrick "Kitten" Brady (Murphy)'s picaresque journey from small-town Ireland repression to life as a transgendered "entertainer" in London, searching for his mother, finding other people to love along the way, and doing it all in heels.

What's the Deal? The basics I just wrote above don't even begin to cover the craziness contained in this movie. It's as though an actual drag queen made it, the kind that never leaves the wig on the stand, the kind you think might be borderline mentally ill because, oh, let's say that they're a drag queen with ties to the Irish Republican Army and as the terrorist bombs are blowing up everywhere they keep lamenting the fact that their gun-running, rock-and-roll boyfriend doesn't bring them flowers or chocolates. So, yeah, it's pretty cool and you get to see the psycho from Red Eye act all ladylike and own it all every single minute.

Oh, Wait, Guess Who Also Made The Crying Game, Another Movie About a Transgendered Guy/Girl With Ties to the IRA? That's right, director Neil Jordan, mining his obsessions here for the whole world to see.

And, Oh, Hey, There's the Dude Who Starred in The Crying Game: Stephen Rea, who played the man who accidentally fell for Jaye Davidson before Jaye had to come clean about being not-exactly-a-biological-woman, is in this movie playing what can only be described as a Super Gay. He's all arched eyebrows and twisting neck and pursed lips and he's hot for our man Murphy.

How They're Different: Crying Game was, for all its gender nonconformity, a straight-up action-thriller. This one is about more: sex, family, religion, politics, terrorism, optimism, camp, glam rock, prostitution, child-rearing and horny priests. There are also some talking birds that break in from time to time to tell you what's going on. Just in case all the rest of it wasn't loony enough for you.

Don't Blink: Or you'll miss Roxy Music's Bryan Ferry as a character named Mr. Silky String.

Dear Irish People, Please Speak More Clearly: Let's say you aren't from Dublin. You may wish there were subtitles from time to time. But don't flip out about that, you'll get it if you just pay attention. And there's a lot to pay attention to here.