Arthur [PG]

Meet Arthur, an adorable, albeit incredibly irresponsible and idiotic billionaire who relies on two things in life to get him by: his limitless fortune and his lifelong nanny, Hobson, who keeps him out of trouble. But now Arthur faces his most expensive challenge: to choose between an arranged marriage that will guarantee his lavish lifestyle or the one thing that money can’t buy… Naomi, his true love. 

A remake of the Oscar-winning romantic comedy starring Dudley Moore and Liza Minnelli, Arthur was a really lovely and charming little film that was filled with wit, sci-fi tragicness, and the odd tear-jerking bit of drama. It was really quite lovely. 

Meet Arthur, an adorable, albeit incredibly irresponsible and idiotic billionaire who relies on two things in life to get him by: his limitless fortune and his lifelong nanny, Hobson, who keeps him out of trouble. But now, Arthur faces his most expensive challenge: to choose between an arranged marriage that will guarantee his lavish lifestyle or the one thing that money can’t buy… Naomi, his true love. 

In all honesty, when I realised that this was a remake, I thought it was going to be a rather cheesy and epic flop, but it actually was really, very lovely. Now, I have never seen the original Arthur with Dudley Moore, but my dad has, and it’s his commentary throughout the film that we literally just finished, that I am basing this review on. 

Although Russell Brand has the title role, from the moment she appeared on the screen, it was obvious that Helen Mirren who played Hobson (the Oscar-winning role originally played by John Gielgud) was going to be the star of the show. Thanks to the very clever and sharp-witted script, Helen had all the best lines, which left poor Russell to ad-lib and improvise, not dissimilar to the style of Robin Williams, gaining laughs in the process. 

Let’s get the negative notes out of the way first shall we? I have to say that this movie’s soundtrack (particularly the end track) murdered the original Arthur’s Theme, so beautifully done by Christopher Cross. Negativity aside, let’s move on. 

Russell Brand was really lovely as Arthur. Judging by my dad’s commentary of the film, Russell obviously watched the original Arthur and then based his performance, somewhat on Dudley Moore. I, personally, thought Russell did very well in this. His voice may have been higher and he may have been childish and trashy to blend in with a modern audience, but his performance was not all Batmobiles, magnetic beds, and working Darth Vader helmets. He had heart, and he had love, and when here teared up in the movie, I teared up in the movie. I have always loved Russell Brand and I have to say that he was really lovely in this. 

Starring Helen Mirren, Greta Gerwig, Luis Guzman, Geraldine James, Jennifer Garner, and Nick Nolte, Arthur was a really lovely movie that was filled with childish comedy, love, drama, romance, chases, and heart. As cheesy as this sounds… this movie was really rather heart warming. I really liked it.