Film Review: Russell Brand Tries Too Hard in Lame ‘Arthur’

Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 8, 2011 - 6:59am

CHICAGO – There are many problems inherent in film remakes, starting with comparisons to the original source. The first “Arthur,” while not a classic, did have a warm, funny story and Dudley Moore’s title performance. The current remake has none of that.

Rating: 2.0/5.0

Russell Brand is Arthur Bach, the (now) billionaire alcoholic playboy, and the odd casting was obviously designed to capitalize on the Brand character, the befuddled party boy displayed in recent films like “Get Him to the Greek.” Brand practically sweats blood trying to get something, anything out of the weak script and not only fails Arthur Bach, but starts to annoy virtually immediately.

The structure of the 1981 original remains intact. Arthur is New York City’s most notorious rich drunk, spending his time on having fun, which in this interpretation includes bizarre rituals like dressing up as Batman, with his chauffeur Bitterman (Luis Guzmán) as a fat Robin. His antics are constantly in the tabloids, distressing his only living parent (Geraldine James). He begins to drag on the billion dollar family reputation, so the corporation and his mother devise a plan to make Arthur grow up.

This action involves marrying him off, preferably to a business person that can assume the reins of the Bach fortune. This leads to Susan (Jennifer Garner), the ambitious heir to a crude upper middle class developer (Nick Nolte), looking to get her hands on real money. Arthur wants none of that, and complains amidst the ritual comfort of his long time nanny, Hobson (Helen Mirren). The caregiver tries to convince him that this might be the best thing to do, but Arthur only agrees when faced with being cut off from the family fortune.

Like the first film, another woman invades this scenario, this time an earth angel tour guide named Naomi (Greta Gerwig). Arthur is smitten with Naomi even while getting engaged to Susan, and begins to woo the lower middle class girl from the Bronx, who dreams of being a children’s book author. When you get caught between the moon and New York City, blah, blah, blah.

“Arthur” opens everywhere on April 8th. Featuring Russell Brand, Helen Mirren, Greta Gerwig, Jennifer Garner, Luis Guzmán, Geraldine James, John Hodgeman and Nick Nolte. Screenplay by Peter Baynham, directed by Jason Winer. Rated “PG-13”