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| ARTHUR |
Movie
review by Neil Sadler
Starring: Russell Brand, Helen Mirren, Jennifer Garner, Greta
Gerwig, Nick Nolte
Director: Jason Winer
More details
ARTHUR is a remake of the Dudley Moore film, now thirty
years old but still a somewhat timeless vehicle for his English
charm and John Gielgud's subtle class. Arthur is a spoiled rich brat
wasting his life in a stupor of wine and women. When an arranged
marriage seems to be his only way of keeping his money, Arthur meets
Naomi and must decide between love and money.
There are sparks of wit and
moments of tenderness in this remake. Helen Mirren and Greta Gerwig
act their pretty little socks off but ultimately ARTHUR
is saddled with the triple
whammy of bad casting, bad timing and an almost complete lack of charm.
This is obviously created as
a vehicle for foisting Russell Brand on a wider audience. Ever since
FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL
studios seem determined to make him a star. As a comic, he was an
extraordinary wit and is an intelligent wordsmith but as with Eddie
Izzard, when you start to put other people's words in his mouth, you
lose the very thing that makes them unique and they become little
more than another English accent.
It doesn't help that this is
a film about someone blessed with loads of money they didn't earn, being shown at a time
when people with money aren't seen with much sympathy. It would be a
hard task for any actor but the film isn't helped by Brand's
constantly charm less persona and some cartoon
performances from fading stars Jennifer Garner and Nick Nolte as the
villains of the piece. Garner particularly seems to have left any
subtlety at the door and pants and leers whenever she is on screen.
Without a worthy villain, we have even less reason to care about the
drunken rich kid.
Thank god then for Helen
Mirren who manages to give the film more class and gravitas than it
deserves. Her nanny, Hobson, is not only Arthur's heart and
conscience but also though not quite the film's saving grace. You
believe in her love for Arthur and in her as a character and so it
goes some way towards making him a bit more loveable.
Greta Gerwig also manages to
raise her love interest far beyond the script and the scenes between
her and Mirren deserve to be in a better film. She herself imbues
Naomi with an innocence and quirkiness and with a
more charming foil to fall for
this may have been a better romantic comedy.
There is hope for Brand
because he can be extremely witty and charming, but not here. Also
the director in his first feature film shows promise but both he and
Brand need to find a classier act rather than this pointless charm
less waste of 100 minutes.
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