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Friday, April 8, 2011
MOVIE REVIEW
Arthur
A Drunk Billionaire's Best
Friend Is His
Bottle Nanny
Helen Mirren as Hobson and Russell Brand as Arthur in Jason Winer's comedy-drama
"Arthur".
Warner Brothers
by
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
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Friday, April 8, 2011
Thirty years ago Dudley Moore's portrayal of a lovable, inimitable, life-loving
drunk New York millionaire was an iconic staple of Steve Gordon's comedy
"Arthur". Jason Winer has updated the classic film for 21st century
audiences with his comedy-drama "Arthur", which opened today across the U.S. and
Canada. Russell Brand takes over from where the late Mr. Moore left off.
Mr. Brand's Big Apple billionaire Arthur Bach is obsessed with movie cars and
artifacts from 1980s films. Arthur doesn't use an iPad and has fewer
drinks than his predecessor. As in Mr. Gordon's film, Arthur has to marry
heiress Susan Johnson (Jennifer Garner) to keep the Bach fortune and corporate
hierarchy intact. One problem: Naomi (Greta
Gerwig) has caught Arthur's eye and his heart. She's everything
that Susan isn't: kind, selfless, wise, beautiful, with a heart of gold.
Actually, let's make that two problems: if Arthur doesn't marry Susan he stands
to lose out on a multi-billion dollar inheritance.
Mr. Winer's film utilizes the spiky, acid shtick of Mr. Brand to make "Arthur" a
tacky, tasteless experience. The short cut to laughs is a constant torrent
of mean-spirited and shock-jock type offensive jabs at various targets.
None of the jabs or "jokes" are funny and Mr. Brand's talents don't show until
the final 15 minutes of a two-hour film that should have been shorn by at least
half an hour. I didn't laugh, though plenty of laugh-track laughter from
the invited public accompanied my stony demeanor.
Comparisons between Mr. Gordon's film and Mr. Winer's are inevitable.
Where "Arthur" 1981 was sunny, spirited, radiant and bursting with life,
"Arthur" 2011 is drenched in the dour and empty. With all his invective
you'd think today's Arthur Bach was miserable with his billionaire status.
The current "Arthur" movie poster declares that Arthur is lovable, but there's
nothing lovable or charming about him. He's a pithy guy who doesn't even
make his number one vocation the affecting enterprise Mr. Moore did.
The new "Arthur" lacks the warmth and sweetness of Mr. Gordon's clever, lively
and funny original. Mr. Winer's film is submerged by endless gimmicks and
small children who say the kinds of things they're not supposed to.
"Arthur" brings the worst attributes of a short-attention span generation and
lathers in them. Mr. Winer displays eye-candy moments and forsakes age-old
questions about love and money in this financial atmosphere -- an atmosphere
"Arthur" cynically responds to. Mr. Winer tries tenderness with a scene
featuring Mr. Brand as a toy store employee but it isn't tender or funny.
Arthur's still a kid, but he's a kid without laughter or happiness, and it shows
in his casual bitterness. He's the film's true Bitterman.
If not for the warmth and innocence of Ms. Gerwig's Naomi and the tartness of
the sublime Helen Mirren, occasionally great here (especially in the film's
second hour) as Hobson, Arthur's long-time friend and nanny, Mr. Winer's film
would rival
"The Green Hornet" and
"Just Go
With It" for "year's worst" contention. As it stands, "Arthur"
is a grueling comedy peppered with nice decor and colorful wardrobe. Like
"Sex And The
City 2", "Arthur" is just plain silly. Silly isn't a sin at the
movies, but silly lazily executed or silly couched in unnecessary
mean-spiritedness is another story -- namely Arthur's story.
Fans of Russell Brand will enjoy "Arthur", though many of those fans may not
have been born or seen the original "Arthur" in 1981. Those who aren't
fans of Mr. Brand will likely come away from the film unenthused at best.
Heavily choreographed, the new "Arthur" borrows a few lines and scenarios from
the old "Arthur". You know where the new film is going, and you know when
the sight gags will come. The film is lazy in its storytelling, even if it
is based on Mr. Gordon's original story. (The new screenplay was written
by Peter Baynham.) Relying on one poor joke or gag after another to
sustain itself, Mr. Winer's "Arthur" wobbles in a stiff, uncomfortable way.
In "Arthur", Mr. Brand doesn't get much deeper than the cutting insults he
hurls. Where Dudley Moore effortlessly used physical comedy for his 1980s
drunk character in such earthy, hearty, full-throated ways, Mr. Brand relies on
props and gadgetry to surround his Arthur Bach, whether that means stripping to
his skivvies as he's done in both
"Get Him To The Greek" and "Forgetting Sarah
Marshall" or making the lewd and lascivious comments reserved for an R-rated
film.
There's little imagination to "Arthur" and the film stifles Luis Guzmán's
talents by putting him in a fancy-dress strait jacket as Bitterman, Arthur's
dependable chauffeur. Could
Jim Carrey or Sasha Baron Cohen have supplied
fun, physical comedy, an English accent and some emotional depth as Arthur?
Perhaps. There's so much more that could have been done to make this film
better than it is. I was sapped by this joyless, soul-sucking experience,
knowing I could have better enjoyed my time watching Mr. Moore's great portrayal
again. Mr. Brand's Arthur is the antithesis, and it doesn't work for Mr.
Winer's film the way it should.
With: Geraldine James, Nick Nolte, John Hodgman, Matt Malloy.
"Arthur" is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association Of America for
alcohol use throughout, sexual content, language and some drug references.
The film's duration is one hour and 50 minutes.
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