Arthur

There’s a brand new “Arthur”

Swift shot: A delightful little comedy with a little bit of heart and panache, short on class, but come on, this is Arthur! This film, on its own, and not directly compared to the original is one of those feel-good comedies that you can see with someone close.  It isn’t a spectacular piece, and I doubt any Academy Awards will come out of this one.  Still, I am not jumping on the hater bandwagon and thumbing my nose at Brand.  He is not my favorite comedian, but I respect him, and his portrayal of the original NY icon is something worthy of praise.  Dudley is not looking down, or up, in disgust.  Enough time has passed that most of my fans didn’t even know this was a remake – yeah, I feel old now.

Arthur, for the unaware, is a film about a spoiled rich kid in an adult’s body – debauchery and drunkenness are his claim to fame.  But, he is so loaded, the figure given is staggering when you hear how much he is worth, I dare not say it here.  Because he is full to the rim with opulence and cash, he gets bored easily and his main goal in life, well, is to LIVE.  He never really gets close to anyone though, because most people are drawn to him solely for his wealth.  At least, that is how his nanny, Hobson, played by Academy Award winner, Helen Mirren, sees things.  She is so used to cleaning up, literally in some cases, Arthur’s mess of a life, that she has become too cynical and jaded when Arthur truly falls for someone who doesn’t want anything from him, just his love and attention.

Granted, when Arthur first meets Naomi (Greta Gerwig) she wants nothing from him, and in fact ends up giving him something – which I think was the spark that really wakes Arthur up – as he is so used to giving to freeloaders and false-friends.  Still, he is so drunk throughout the film, it becomes hard to nail down his earnest feelings in many scenes.  But, if you pay attention in two scenes, you are rewarded with why Arthur treats life as a playground, and for whom he is playing that role.

His play time is about to be furloughed though, when his mother demands he marry a woman under her employ, Susan (Jennifer Gardner) whose only designs are on Arthur’s Bach empire.  Susan’s father is played brilliantly, and brutally, by Nick Nolte – who it was nice to see make an appearance on the screen again.  His character will definitely get your attention!  Susan and Arthur’s mom essentially give Arthur a choice, marry her and keep your inheritance or refuse the marriage and be cut off from the vast Bach empire . . . forever.

The peripheral characters in Arthur place an exorbitant amount of outside pressure on his decisions, and at several turns you may find yourself agreeing with his philosophy of living life through binges and toys.  But, as you see his heart develop throughout the film, you really understand he is just a lost, little kid, scared and unprepared – or is there more to Arthur in the end?  You’ll laugh, you’ll hope, and you will be rooting for the most wealthy “sympathetic character” as you watch his decisions shape his life.

Director Jason Winer gets a lot out of his cast, and when everything plays out, the evolution of the plot is, dare I say, a story-book ending.  I wanted to come out with a snide grin on my face, telling the world that Brand couldn’t hold a warm cup of piss up to Moore, but I was soundly shut up as I found myself laughing my butt off . . . even at scenes I caught in the trailers.  Because this isn’t a big blockbuster action flick or anything where cinematography requires grandiose framing, you can wait until you can own this and watch it at home.  But, if you want to catch a really enjoyable theater film, Arthur should give you something to smile about and might just leave a spark of romance in your heart.