There are times when Arthur comes close to being a heartwarming comedy that would be sure to entice all audiences with plenty of laughs and tear-jerking moments. Surprisingly enough, these occassions are actually thanks to Russell Brand's manic portrayal of his character, which for once works to the piece's advantage rather than to its detriment as it did in the Sarah Marshall flicks. If there were more instances where Brand's wonderful chemistry with co-star Helen Mirren, who plays the real life character Arthur Bach's nanny, makes for a touching look at how wealth can corrupt and blind the rich to the potential benefits of work and lower-class life, this would come highly recommended by me as a film to bridge the quiet gap in the movie industry currently forming in the month of January. However, for all those great moments, there is an inherint shallowness that never ceases to pervade Arthur, forcing it to stink of a 'kiddie comedy' vibe despite its sexual innuendo and language references, and every time that vibe comes to the surface any chances the film has of becoming a classic fade away. Jennifer Garner, for example, is fantastic in her role as the desperate woman who wants to steal Arthur away as her husband to gain his inheritance, but the scriptwrights chose to make her character border on complete melodrama, to the point that you might expect some moments akin to a pantomime where she turns to the audience and goes "OH NO you didn't!" and stretches out an argument for an unbearable length of time. Thankfully it never comes to that- nevertheless, the script does feel rather childish at times, presumably restrained by the need to keep this within the radius of a '12' rating, as many comedies feel obliged to do. And yet, it's those which dare to be different, like The Inbetweeners, Bridesmaids and The Hangover II did last year, which come out top in the genre, and as such I think the makers have missed out on a huge opportunity here. I think Arthur actually had some potential to go down as a comedy great; were it not for its predictable plotting and formulaic character archetypes, from which it is mostly redeemed by Brand and Mirren's spot-on portrayals, there would have been a prime opportunity for it to have ranked in my Top 15 Best Films of 2011 list, but as it is Arthur will probably be forgotten simply because it never dares to be different.
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Wednesday, 4 January 2012
Arthur Review (3.5/5)
There are times when Arthur comes close to being a heartwarming comedy that would be sure to entice all audiences with plenty of laughs and tear-jerking moments. Surprisingly enough, these occassions are actually thanks to Russell Brand's manic portrayal of his character, which for once works to the piece's advantage rather than to its detriment as it did in the Sarah Marshall flicks. If there were more instances where Brand's wonderful chemistry with co-star Helen Mirren, who plays the real life character Arthur Bach's nanny, makes for a touching look at how wealth can corrupt and blind the rich to the potential benefits of work and lower-class life, this would come highly recommended by me as a film to bridge the quiet gap in the movie industry currently forming in the month of January. However, for all those great moments, there is an inherint shallowness that never ceases to pervade Arthur, forcing it to stink of a 'kiddie comedy' vibe despite its sexual innuendo and language references, and every time that vibe comes to the surface any chances the film has of becoming a classic fade away. Jennifer Garner, for example, is fantastic in her role as the desperate woman who wants to steal Arthur away as her husband to gain his inheritance, but the scriptwrights chose to make her character border on complete melodrama, to the point that you might expect some moments akin to a pantomime where she turns to the audience and goes "OH NO you didn't!" and stretches out an argument for an unbearable length of time. Thankfully it never comes to that- nevertheless, the script does feel rather childish at times, presumably restrained by the need to keep this within the radius of a '12' rating, as many comedies feel obliged to do. And yet, it's those which dare to be different, like The Inbetweeners, Bridesmaids and The Hangover II did last year, which come out top in the genre, and as such I think the makers have missed out on a huge opportunity here. I think Arthur actually had some potential to go down as a comedy great; were it not for its predictable plotting and formulaic character archetypes, from which it is mostly redeemed by Brand and Mirren's spot-on portrayals, there would have been a prime opportunity for it to have ranked in my Top 15 Best Films of 2011 list, but as it is Arthur will probably be forgotten simply because it never dares to be different.
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