In the 1980’s “Arthur” the movie was a big hit. Now in 2011 there is a new “Arthur” but much the same story. If you enjoyed the original then you might want to check out the newer version, here is a review.
Arthur(Russel Brand) is an aire to one of the biggest corporations in the world. His mother is current CEO and looking to pass the reigns to Arthur but Arthur enjoys his cocktails more than the thought of being the boss one day. Despite all the money in the world Arthur is a miserable drunk who parties all day and night and is literally cleaned up and taken care of by his full time care taker Hobson (Hellen Mirren) and second assistant Bitterman(Luis Guzman).
When Arthur’s mother, Vivien(Geraldine James) witnesses another Arthur public display of drunken indescecey she has no choice but to offer an ultimatum to Arthur. Since Arthur has little interest in his mother’s work she figures out a plan to have him marry Susan Johnson(Jennifer Garner), a current assistant to Arthur’s mother and very much the identity that the company would rather have than a town drunk. Of course Arthur is reluctant but when Vivien threatens to take all of Arthur’s money away and cut him off he is now forced to marry Susan.
Then Arthur meets Naomi Quinn. A woman that catches Arthur’s immediate attention and despite his terrible predicament with Susan with his new forced engagement he decides to just try to make something work with Naomi. Arthur begins to really enjoy Naomi’s company and the two do get along, but this couple is more like the prince of England dating a commoner without permission and Hobson begins to worry that Arthur is risking too much for just another girl.
Arthur begins to fall in love with Naomi and Arthur tries everything to maybe change the minds of those involved in this fake arranged marriage including Susan’s father Burt Johnson(Nick Nolte) are not willing to see that Arthur will ever change his ways and this must be the way. So now Arthur is split with either throwing everything away for Naomi, marrying Susan or just sucking it up and being a man for the first time in his life and dealing with what Arthur has created. Arthur does try to be a commoner by going to an actual job and trying to show at least Hobson that he is willing to change but Arthur hasn’t worked a day in his life. Despite Arthur’s failures to change, Hobson starts to realize that Arthur might actually love this girl Naomi and even she confronts Vivien to maybe stop this whole thing. Once again Vivien is reluctant and believes that this marriage is the right thing for Arthur to be the real change of his life.
Overall this movie gets three and a half stars. I liked the movie as I did the original but hardly does the original get beaten by the newer. There are bigger issues in this movie that deal with alcoholism which are apparent in Russel’s Brand and original Dudley Moore character that are worth noting and should be seen that the issue of alcoholism despite twenty years in between making these two movies still very much exist today. Furthermore Arthur despite being very rich has the same problems as a lower income woman or man deals with everyday. This kind of movie shows that despite coming form different social classes that we all can relate to similar issues that we face every day whether it is alcoholism, not agreeing with a parent on a major issue, even feeling the loss of losing a parent early in life or just not being noticed as a child. All of these themes can be picked up from this movie and it’s a big reason why the movie both old and new are worth watching.
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