ARTHUR NEWMAN (2012)

Genre: Drama
Director: Dante Ariola
Cast: Colin Firth, Emily Blunt, Anne Heche, Kristin Lehman, Sterling Beaumon, David Andrews, Autumn Dial, Nicole LaLiberte
RunTime: 1 hr 30 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scenes)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: http://arthur-newman.com/

Opening Day: 11 July 2013 

Synopsis: Wallace Avery is tired of his life. Divorced, disconnected from his son, dissatisfied with his love life, he decides the time has come for a radical solution. He literally walks away from his life, buys himself a new identity as Arthur Newman, and sets out toward his own private Oz ? Terre Haute, Indiana ? where he believes he has a chance to work as a golf pro. Wallace’s idea of a second chance is to become a second person. His road trip is derailed by the entrance of Michaela Fitzgerald, whom Arthur discovers passed out poolside at a motel. It takes her all of a couple hours to bust Arthur’s identity scam. It takes Arthur a lot longer to bust hers. Colin Firth and Emily Blunt co-star in this gently comic love story set in a perfect storm of identity crisis. ARTHUR NEWMAN, from a screenplay written by Becky Johnston, looks at how two people, desperate to remake themselves, fall in love and find a way to accept responsibility for who they really are.

Movie Review:

Ennui. Everyone has it. Hollywood loves to film it, especially the ennui harboured by older, jaded men who fantasise about escape amid that inevitable mid-life crisis.

Arthur Newman is a film that makes this “search-for-the-self” premise shamelessly clear in its trailer and promotional materials. But the formula of straight-laced old man who meets young, rebellious wild chick and from there embarks on crazy sex-ventures and feral shenanigans in a life-transforming road trip? It is always old. It never gets fresher with each re-hash unless - and I believe here the producers were being hopeful – one engages the services of fine actors capable of putting new spins on old tricks.

As a fan of both Colin Firth and Emily Blunt’s acting, I bought into this hard-sell that the two, who are more commonly known for shining in side roles, share a sort of underdog romanticism in their acting careers, and must admit being overwhelmed with such hope that the meeting of these two would give birth to some very fine, magical onscreen chemistry. Alas, Arthur Newman never quite lives up to this potent promise.

For a start, the film takes an awkward, extended length of time to develop. There is a segment in the film where the two leads, Wallace (Colin Firth) and Michaela (Emily Blunt) house-break and role -play as different couples that is fleetingly cute. By “fleetingly”, I mean a total of ten minutes of the film vaguely entertained. A distinct sense of contrived chemistry between the two who almost seem to scream, “This story isn’t working, what am I doing here?” as they perfunctorily play their roles becomes a deadened weight on the already paper-thin scaffoldings of a story that lacks true substance.

While it was hard enough seeing the gentlemanly “Mr Darcy” engage in explicit love scenes, it was harder still to see the endearing Firth falter in his acting. Never really finding the momentum in his role, and without the assured execution of his trademark helpless charm in his past romantic comedies, including Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001), Firth’s steady acting sense goes limp in this starring role. Blunt is the only character who saves the film with her valiant attempt at faking chemistry. But the character she is made to portray – girl, interrupted, with all that chipped black nail polish to boot, is a glaring stereotype that feels like a false skin pulled over her.

Supposed advertising and design whiz Dante Ariola, who puts on his director’s hat for the first time in this project, proves thoroughly amateur for the big screen. Relying too heavily on mood music for tenuous bridges instead of a solid story does not a film make, but rather, a very sub-par music video that tries too hard to justify its existence. When you tire of this film that is built on the most pathetic script fit only for B-grade actors, try predicting the next line of dialogue – it is a game most easy to win.

The next time you find yourself wanting to watch a show about strange men with all sorts of dissatisfactions with their half-lived lives, watch American Beauty (1999), Sideways (2004) or Down in the Valley (2005). Arthur Newman should never come into your radar.

Movie Rating:  

(Startlingly bad, this film is an ugly dent on the thus-far impressive métier of Colin Firth and Emily Blunt)

Review by Tay Huizhen