Sunday, March 06, 2011

TRAILER: Russell Brand's "Arthur"

PLOT: A drunken playboy (Brand) stands to lose a wealthy inheritance when he falls for a woman (Gerwig) his family doesn't like.

CAST: Russell Brand (Get Him to the Greek), Helen Mirren, Luis Guzman, Jennifer Garner, Greta Gerwig (No Strings Attached and Greenberg), Nick Nolte

VERDICT: I knew this was a remake of the 1981 rom-com starring Dudley Moore and Liza Minnelli, so I watched the original once I heard the news. From the trailer, it seems that the story is basically the same. Garner plays the woman his family wants him to marry, and he's more interested in a less extravagant girl played by Gerwig. But it seems like the caretaker and butler roles have been enhanced to give Mirren and Guzman more screen time. I'm cool with that. What's not cool is that Gerwig's character doesn't seem as sharp-tongued and sassy as Minnelli was, and I'm afraid that's because, as Hollywood tends to do, they made they gave all the good lines to the male comedian. I've only seen Gerwig act for 10 minutes, but I know she could handle meatier dialogue, and doesn't need to be so vanilla. Poor and boring are not interchangeable characteristics. Hopefully, the trailer is misleading and Gerwig has more of a personality than just the girl who is lucky enough to get swept off her feet by a future billionaire. That said, I look forward to laughing at Brand's shenanigans and seeing Garner in a role where's not an adorable girl-next-door or a leather-clad badass.

Release Date: April 8

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