The original Arthur, starring the legendary Dudley Moore, is one of the best rom-coms to skip out of the eighties, so the prospect of a 2011 remake was met with blisteringly low expectations and a general mood of savage annoyance at the effrontery of the skip rats putting it together. It’s like remaking Blade Runner, or Ghostbusters (see the latest details on Ghostbuster 3 to register your incredulity), or Ferris Beullers Day Off, or even Karate Kid (seriously, unforgivable!). Why meddle with perfection.
That said, Arthur 2011 turned out to be a lot more sympathetic than it was given credit for, which is about as good as you can hope for under the circumstances. It somehow managed to recapture a little of the beautiful charm, wit and style of the original film to bring back an ingenious story for a new generation.
Although the trailer doesn’t really do it justice, what you get in the end is a sweet cap doff to the great work of Steve Gordon, Liza Minnelli and Sir John Gielgud. It’s obviously not a patch on the classic, but it’s sometimes good to introduce the kids of today to some of the genius of yesteryear.
Russell Brand does a good job of reprising the role of Arthur and Helen Mirren (The Tempest) transgenders the lovably cutting butler Hobson (who was played brilliantly by Sir John Gielgud in the 1981 original) really well. Nick Nolte and Jennifer Garner make a pretty good business-based evil father and daughter pairing too as they try all the tricks in their nasty book to help separate Arthur from his not inconsiderable fortune.
While the ending doesn’t quite do the rest of the film all that proud, the new iteration of Arthur is still a genuinely enjoyable film to watch, whether on DVD, Blu-ray or the most digital of downloads. There’s a good amount of laughs, at least one moment that would make even Kim Jong-il return from the grave and well up, and the massively endearing Greta Gerwig (Greenberg) playing Arthur’s love interest Naomi, who’s worth watching owt for that one. Extras include a gag reel and some of the scenes that didn’t make it through the savagely austere cutting room hackery.
Arthur (2011) had a DVD, Blu-ray and digital release date of the 19th September 2011 and while a lot of time has passed from then and now (we’re writing some of this from the future) it’s still a movie we wouldn’t mind watching again. A big part of the credibility has got to be attributed to Peter Baynham (Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, Arthur Christmas), who wrote the script for the movie update, although in all fairness Brand, Mirren, Nolte, Garner and Gerwig carry it off well, along with director Jason Winer.
Arthur (2011) DVD & Blu-ray review: 3.5/5*
* In case you’re wondering, this compares to an easy 5 out of 5 for the original Arthur film.
