Review: Arthur

I really tried not to be biased by my dislike of Russell Brand. I really, really tried. And to be honest, I did better than I thought I would. I didn't really want to see this film, but the only other option was Water For Elephants, and considering all the factors (opening night, 2 for 1 Wednesday, Twilight fangirls), that seemed like it would be more trouble than it was worth. So, we went to see Arthur.

A remake of an 80s classic, in which a daft and endearing alcoholic heir to a fortune is given an ultimatum by his exasperated mother; marry this 'suitable' woman and stop behaving like such a schmuck, or be cut off from the millions and earn your way like the rest of us. Unfortunately, this ultimatum comes at a time when Arthur has begun to fall in love for the first time, but not with the woman he now has to marry in order to keep his frivolous, extravagant lifestyle, all under the watchful eye of his sarcastic, stern but caring nanny/butler Hobson.

I've never seen the original all the way through, so I had no point of comparison, which was probably a good thing. I was expecting a childish comedy with poor acting, glorified fart gags and a predictable story. But it was much better than that. It was genuinely very funny; the one-liners were witty, Russell Brand (dare I say it) made me laugh a couple of times and Helen Mirren was hilarious; it really impressed and surprised me with it's semi-sophisticated and clever humour.

And the acting wasn't so bad, either. Admittedly, Russell Brand was (again) merely playing an extension of himself (read: manchild with addictive personality and more money than sense), but he did it reasonably well. Jennifer Garner - for me - couldn't quite act past her face, which looks so friendly, sweet and charming that I just couldn't take her seriously as a gold-digging dominatrix. Helen Mirren was brilliant, but then she usually is, though the writing made her character's personality flick from one extreme to another in terms of strictness and mothering. However, Greta Gerwig's portrayal of the kooky children's writer who steals Arthur's heart was very touching and sweet; Brand's scenes were largely made better because she was in them.

So all of that was fine. The issues I had were with the plot, and the moral. I can't really go into my annoyances here without giving anything away, but the whole point of the film was essentially negated for me by the rushed, blink-and-you'll-miss-it ending (which, in fact, a friend of mine did blink and miss). Aside from that, a very important sequence towards the end of the film was unexplained, too brief, out of the blue and let down by Brand's inability to act emotively. As a comedy actor I admit - though I can't really stand the man - that he's good, but in a more emotional scene his shortcomings as an actor were painfully obvious.

For me, the story was too flawed to really like it, though I did enjoy the wittiness and thought it was made considerably better by Helen Mirren and Greta Gerwig.

Basic summary: lighthearted and endearing comedy with some serious structural flaws, but a good one to watch when you don't want to engage your brain and fancy a good laugh.

Rating: * * (average)