Synopsis:
Arthur (Russell Brand) is an alcoholic billionaire playboy. He lives off the wealth of his Mother indulging his every whim no matter the cost. But his Mother needs an heir to the family empire and Arthur needs to shape up or ship out.
Whether you enjoy Arthur or not is probably going to be determined by how you feel about the main character, and your opinion of Russell Brand who portrays him. Unfortunately it’s hard to feel any empathy for an over-privileged, alcoholic playboy character living a decadently indulgent lifestyle. There comes a point in the film where the audience is obviously supposed to feel some sympathy for the plight of Arthur and the situation he finds himself in. However, the only sympathy I felt was for the staff that had to pander to Arthur’s every whim. This is, of course, the point of the film to some extent – the rich playboy who finds his true self and the real value of life with the help of the enigmatic girl with whom he finds true love. The problem is, it’s a load of tosh and the sort of moral message you might expect from a kids animation. This film didn’t need to be re-made. It’s not an interesting or involving story in the slightest.That said, Russell Brand is a good choice to play Arthur as it would seem he’s pretty much playing himself. There are some redeeming features. Some of the one-liners and piffy quips are actually quite funny but they do get kind of lost in the background.
If you like Russell Brand then I’d recommend going to see Arthur because you basically get 2 hours of Russell Brand being Russell Brand and as such I’m sure Arthur will do reasonably well in the UK. If this was Russell Brand’s attempt to crack America however, it is a miserable failure.
