Review of Arthur (2011) by Sara W — 19 Aug 2011

The movie starts off far from good. Beginning with a drunken spoof of Batman & Robin, consisting of an over-the-top car chase and idiotic dialog, I was afraid that I was in for the ultimate cheese-fest. Gladly, the movie picks up from its awful start quickly and soon grabbed my attention. Performances in the movie are not anything special. The character Arthur, being an obnoxious, cruel, playboy may not sound like something hard for Russell Brand to play, the character pretty much being himself (as is in all of his movies), the acting in the film isn't the best. Midway through the movie, Arthur becomes what I call a soapy comedy, and Brand actually does what he can to give a sense of feeling to the character. Russell Brand is usually the same Rock & Roll numb-nuts that play the same idiots in every movie.

The best performance in the movie, however, goes to Helen Mirren. Mirren gives not just a serious performance in "Arthur", but a dried-up funny as well. Her character, Hobson, is very likeable in the movie and more likeable than anyone else in the film, playing the very sarcastic (and also sensitive) nanny to Arthur. Greta Gerwig, who isn't really getting any attention to being in this movie, though she has more of a character role in the film than Jennifer Garner does, plays Arthur's love attraction Naomi. Naomi's character is likeable because of her free-spirited actions, but I feel her reason for illegal tour-guiding was dumb and over-the-top and it made me care a lot less for her character. Here's the saddest thing that comes from "Arthur": Jennifer Garner literally gives her worst performance. Her character, Susan, both obnoxious and bitchy, wasn't played to any extent and I was very disappointed with what Garner did in the role. Other disappointments in the movie come from Nick Nolte (see if you can find him in this) and Geraldine James. You'd think the last three I mentioned would outshine in this kind of movie, but surprisingly, don't belong. The script for the movie can be back and forth, sometimes being good and then sometimes being horrible. I wouldn't recommend going out and seeing it, but the movie does deserve a rent. You can expect a large dose of ridiculous humor, funny at times, but the real deal that comes out of this movie is the change in character we see from Arthur. It was interesting watching him go from an immature, alcoholic wreak to his journey in trying to become a respected man. The movie can be cheesy, awkwardly stupid, and just plain bad. Rent it!