Arthur Bach (Russell Brand) has always had it easy. He has a limitless amount of money, has no responsibilities, and has had a lifelong nanny named Hobson (Helen Mirren) to keep him out of trouble. Arthur’s mother, Vivienne (Geraldine James) finally gets frustrated with her son’s exploits and constant embarrassment of the family, she and her assistant Susan (Jennifer Garner) hatch up a plan for a prearranged marriage between Arthur and Susan. Arthur doesn’t want to marry Susan and his mother tells him that if he doesn’t go through with the arranged marriage, he will be cut off of his fortune.
During one of his outrageous outings in the city, Arthur meets a Grand Central Terminal tour guide named, Naomi (Greta Gerwig). He falls head over heels with the young lady, and realizes that this is the woman he wants to spend the rest of his time with. Now he must make the most critical decision of his adult life, marry Susan and retain his wealth, or pursue the woman of his dreams and lose everything. It will be the most expensive decision of his life, and also the first time he has ever had to actually be an adult about his future.
This movie was a remake of the 1981 classic, “Arthurâ€, which starred Dudley Moore in the title role. In that one, the love of Arthur’s life was played by Liza Minnelli, and the role of Hobson was played by John Gielgud. Dudley Moore made the character famous as he portrayed the happy drunk with no pretensions and even less ambition. So for Russell Brand to take on this role after all these years were some big shoes to fill. Both actors were born in England, so that made it easy for Brand to step into the role, as the character needed to be of English decent. That also held true for the role of Hobson, who was now played by a woman as appose to a man in the original, being that Helen Mirren and John Gielgud were also from England. You could see that there was a real good chemistry between Brand and Mirren in this movie, which was also present in the original. The story basically stayed the same with just a couple of subtle changes here and there. The part of Bitterman, Arthur’s driver was played by Luis Guzman, who had some very funny scenes alongside Brand in this remake.
All in all everyone in this remake did a great job. I felt this version was just as funny, if not funnier than the original. Russell Brand is becoming quite the comedic go to guy for zany, outrageous characters. He also is becoming one of my favorite comedic actors to watch. His humor is often rude, and brash, and with an English accent, it seems to make it funnier and more acceptable. I gave this movie 3 stars. It lived up to its predecessor standards and was funny from beginning to end. Who doesn’t want to have a countless amount of money and be able to do whatever you want at any given time. The movie ran 1 hour and 50mins. It was rated PG-13 for alcohol use throughout, sexual content and some drug references. It was written by Peter Baynham and Steven Gorden (III), from source material from the movie “Arthurâ€. The film was directed by Jason Winer. Produced by MBST Entertainment, Benderspink, Langley Park Pictures, Kevin McCormick Productions. Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution
They say money can’t buy you love, but it sure can buy a lot of enjoyment while trying. Ezo
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