Arthur Review

• 18th Apr 2011

This month sees the release of the remake of the 1981 classic Arthur.  For anyone unfamiliar with this brilliant 80s film, it’s a story of a filthy rich, alcoholic socialite who has no plans to grow up, be responsible or take over his family’s company.  Arthur is informed he must clean up his act or risk being cut off from the family fortune. The first step in this transformation is to marry Susan Johnson, the daughter of a self-made billionaire. However, there’s no love shared between the two and when he meets a working-class girl from Queens running illegal city tours, he falls for her instantly.

The original stared Dudley Moore and was a brilliant comic performance; as is the one given by new star of the screen Russell Brand.  Brand plays the comic drunk brilliantly, having battled his own drink and drug addictions, Brand took to sniffing tequila on set to remember being drunk. Yet he manages to surprise the audience with a heartfelt performance upon the death of his nanny Hobson, played excellently by Helen Mirren. The relationship between the two characters seems very easy and natural and get the whole audience laughing along with some brilliant moments between the two. When Arthur falls for Naomi (Greta Gerwig), a humble tour guide-come-author, they’re the perfect match, bouncing off one another’s humorous frivolity brilliantly, leaving you routing for their relationship, empathising with Arthur’s predicament and genuinely caring if they’ll get their happily ever after.

For me, this film is brilliant on its own with loud laughs and a great story. But for a lover of the original it just doesn’t stand up.  Dudley Moore’s drunken comedy is much more heart-warming and over the top.  It could have something to do with Brand’s sobriety, but it just felt a bit too contrived at times. However, saying this I will be buying the Blu-ray on release, so I implore to visit your local big screen.

Tom Clinch