Review of Arthur (2011) by Rebecca L — 05 Dec 2011

An irritating, vulgar remake of the beloved 80's screwball comedy classic that starred the late Dudley Moore who delivered a masterful comic performance that earned him a Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

Russell Brand's take on Arthur is a inept and moronic performance that is so awful that it has to be seen to be believed, he's about as funny as a migraine. The story still basically stays the same Arthur is given an ultimatum to marry a hand-picked ice-cold women who he does not love, played nicely by Jennifer Garner or lose his billion dollar inheritance he meets by chance a poor woman, played solidly played by Greta Gerwig who he falls in love with, they are some character changes like Arthur's loyal butler Hobson who was so memorably played in the original film by the late Sir John Gielgud in a Oscar winning performance, his here character is now Arthur's lifelong nanny played by the great Helen Mirren who adds a touch class to this production but even she looks bored and cannot save this mess, there are new scenes like Arthur dressed as Batman with his chauffeur Bitterman who is no longer a African American, he is now a Puerto Rican simpleton, played by a game Luis Guzman dressed as Robin the boy wonder joy-riding down the streets of Manhattan in the "Batmobile" in a totally ludicrous and unexplained scene, another has Arthur literally running down the city streets in nothing put his underwear briefs, But the biggest failure in this film is Russell Brand who is a dreadful bore and cannot measure up to Dudley Moore's hysterically funny and endearing original performance, Brand's performance is clownish and stupid and does not fit the character at all.

This film is a major disaster from the beginning to the end and is destined to be quickly forgotten, it is without doubt one of the most unnecessary remakes in recent memory. Not Recommended.