Arthur (2011)

I watched the original 1981 movie and enjoyed it very much. This movie I didn't like at all. Maybe it was Russell Brand, he's too far out there for my taste. I watch comedies to laugh and forget the harshness of life's realities, this movie is worse than reality. It's too bizarre and painful to enjoy, at least in my opinion. The original Arthur with Dudley Moore was light-hearted, funny and benign. Russell Brand, in my opinion was a bad choice for this role as his personality is too weird and sinister to be funny. Yes, I am comparing this to the original, sorry but the creators in sense are attempting to sell the movie based on the original with viewers expecting something similar, I was. They should have created a totally different movie with a different title, etc... If one watches the movie they should be aware this movie is a totally different twist to the original.

The original Arthur came out in 1981 and starred Dudley Moore. Remember him? It was funny. It was poignant. It was believable in an "out of your own reach" sort of way. I walked out of the new Arthur after an hour, came home and immediately watched the Dudley version on Netflix's Instant Watch. It was as fun as I remembered it, even though rich then is so not rich now. Remember 1981, when there were only a handful of millionaires? Who knew? It really made me feel good about walking out and honoring the first version.The problem with the new Arthur is that Russell Brand is silly… but only silly. Doing a silly movie with a silly actor means it can be silly and still not be not funny or believable. Arthur is not funny, and it's an embarrassment to Helen Mirren, who should have run after reading page one of the script. She is such a great actor; what was she thinking? Much has changed in the thirty years since the original Arthur came out. Liza Minnelli has turned out in real life to be as crazy as she appeared to be in Arthur and The Sterile Cuckoo. She always made me so uncomfortable in those roles. I just knew it was the true her, and that she could not possibly have a great life. I was right, alas. But Arthur needs to play opposite someone as nutty as him in order to make it believable, and no one in the new Arthur comes close to really being his soul mate. Dudley Moore's real life had a sad ending; he was always just a bit embarrassed by his own lack of seriousness.So I have put to rest here the need to discuss the movie at all.It reminds us all that watching old versions of movies can be a fun thing to do on a Sunday afternoon. 'Night Dudley.

Comedies should be fun. Sometimes they can deviate from reality but the whole premise of this movie is absurd.Arthur was just a totally unbelievable character. Maybe it was brand, maybe it was the script, maybe it was the director. It doesn't matter. If we don't believe Arthur could ever be a real person then we will never have the connection that is needed for a movie to succeedPerhaps the people who find torture and sadism entertaining could rate this movie highly but for the majority of the human population they will find this a piece of trash. I am just surprised that this movie with the deridingly unfunny revised script was ever released.

(Plot) An alcoholic playboy stands to lose his inheritance if he doesn't manage to marry Susan Johnson (Garner) But Arthur falls for someone else instead, and things get chaoticI've seen both Arthur's, and I've actually managed to enjoy both of them. That's rare for me because it's usually the other way around, meaning I like the original, and wind up detesting the remake. Remakes are becoming very superfluous these days, but I couldn't help but enjoy this one. That cast was so much fun to watch, and they really did care about making sure the audience had a good time. It has its fair share of surprises, and also some big time laughs as well. I groaned when I heard Russell Brand was taking over for Dudley Moore, but he wound up surprising me by giving a fun performance. The real star of this movie is Helen Mirren, though. It was already entertaining without her, but she took the entertainment up a notch whenever she was on screen. Greta Gerwig was charming, whilst Jennifer Garner played the clingy love interest to a T.Final Thoughts: If you enjoyed the original Arthur, there is no reason you can't like this one as well, at least in my opinion. Give it a chance. It's pretty entertaining, and I recommend it7/10