Ryan McNeil
Some people are eccentric just out of oddity. Some have wild imaginations that lend themselves to escapades on a level higher than most. And then there are those that are are nutty because they’ve never had to evolve and have all the money in the world to keep them just as stunted as they are.
Three guesses which of those options applies to Arthur Bach.
ARTHUR is a remake of the 1981 comedy of the same name. Arthur Bach (Russell Brand) is an insanely rich playboy who lives strictly for wine, women, and song. Well, maybe not song. He is the heir to an immense fortune, but learning about how the money is made doesn’t interest him nearly as much as spending it…in monstorous amounts…foolishly. The only thing keeping Arthur from completely combusting is Hobson (Hellen Mirren), his childhood Nanny who acts as maid, cook, confidant and caregiver.
His mother has always been cold and aloof, and inkeeping with that she finally gives him an ultimatum. He can marry Susan Johnson (Jennifer Garner), a bright star within the company and someone who could potentially put a leash on his wild ways, or he can consider himself cut off from the family fortune.
Arthur reluctantly agrees, but is adamant that a marriage that acts as a business arrangement is no match for one borne out of love. That very same day, love takes a train into town in the form of Naomi (Greta Gerwig); an eccentric young lady who leads unlicensed tours of Grand Central Terminal to support herself and her sick father.
Thus Arthur is faced with a classic choice – love or money?
The obvious knock on ARTHUR is that it’s an unnecessary remake. There’s no denying that it is a remake, but I can’t completely fall in line with it being unnecessary. Much of the whimsy and heart of the original is on the screen again in this version, so its heart is in the right place. Admittedly, some elements aren’t where they’re supposed to be – namely Hobson’s role being dialed back a bit and Greta Gerwig not having the spark that Liza Minnelli. That said the core of the film is intact, and presented reasonably well for a new audience.
What gives the film a lot of joy is the performance of Russell Brand. Over his last few films, Brand has tapped into something wonderful: He’s a clever guy acting like a nut. Sure he’s outlandish at times, and outright wild at others – but through all of this there’s a wit to what he says and does that can’t be faked. What’s really wonderful is seeing what happens when he turns the volume down and that wit gets enhanced with heart and charm. Brand makes Arthur more loveable, turning him from a drunken lout into a stunted man-child.
Where the film falls short is its sense of balance. There are three of Arthur’s relationships at play within the film: With Naomi, with Susan, and with Hobson. The relationship with Naomi is given more than its due, and if anything this time around we get an even better sense of why he’s willing to risk so much to be with this manic-pixie-dreamgirl. It’s the latter two relationships where things fall out of sorts.
Arthur’s relationship with Hobson is his only compass, something we truly come to understand in the film’s final act. On the road to that final act however, Arthur spends an inordinate amount of time strong-arming Susan and reiterating to her why things between them are wrong. In essence, his relationship with Hobson gets short-changed so Susan can get more screen time to flex her muscles of control, make a power play, and generally act nuts. And as if to illustrate how out-of-whack this is, Arthur’s final scenes of the film with each women go so very differently…underlining their importance to him. Or lack thereof.
ARTHUR is messy, but its messiness doesn’t knock it all the way down to being a bad movie. The scenes between Mirren and Brand are wonderful…so much so that one wishes there were more of them. Likewise, seeing an wealthy imp like Arthur Bach trying to woo young Naomi by appealing to her passions is pretty darned sweet. Unfortunately, these things are like trying to get out the door of Arthur’s penthouse after one of his wild nights of partying. You’ll get there, but you have to tiptoe through a lot of rubble to do it.