Arthur: Review

One of my favourite films growing up was the comedy Arthur with Dudley Moore, the story of a playboy with a drinking problem. It won an Oscar for John Gielgud as a foul mouthed butler. 30 years on and the remake is here and while it's almost a shot-for-shot blueprint of the 1981 hit, it's not half as bad as it could have been.

Arthur Bach is a child-like billionaire who enjoys a drink or three, wild parties with complete strangers and acting like a kid. He's an embarrassment for his businesswoman mother, who threatens to cut him off from his fortunes if he doesn't marry Susan Johnson, the daughter to a wealthy builder. Arthur, however doesn't love her and what makes things worse is that he meets Naomi, an illegal tour guide who he falls for. Could Arthur survive without a penny? Or can he even survive the world around him when he has relied on his nanny, Hobson?

Russell Brand takes on Dudley Moore's small shoes and doesn't do a bad job. He works better with his foppish comedy than he does in the serious stuff but he makes Arthur a likeable rogue. Jennifer Garner is fine as Susan and Greta Gerwig, so impressive in Greenberg, is fair as Naomi, a role that Liza Minnelli took on in the original. She has the perfect look for a plain Jane from a poorer background but the scenes between Brand and her just don't gel as well as they could have.

The saving grace is Helen Mirren, taking Gielgud's Hobson and turning in a pitch-perfect comic turn, delivering the sarcastic banter with aplomb and she seems completely effortless and yet steals the film from everyone. Even the scenes between her and Brand are the best and proof that the two are great friends not only on screen but off, (they met making the ill-fated The Tempest).

The direction is a little lacklustre and needs someone who can handle comedy much better as well as handling actors. Jason Winer has worked mainly in TV (including some episodes of Modern Family) but here he lets his actors take control and that doesn't always work, while the film could have been 20 minutes shorter.

It's not perfect in any means but it has some quite funny lines and its worth seeing Mirren on fire. Still would recommend you watch the original though.