Ahthur, King of the Britons

For some reason, the remake of Arthur had me thinking about that line out of Monty Python's Holy Grail.

Perhaps it was the casting of Russell Brand (which, btw, I thought was a brilliant choice until I found out that he was also the Executive Producer. Then, it was a given, though still a good choice), or just having so many British overtones.

In any event, it was as funny as expected. They did a much better job of showing Arthur throwing around his money, much more so than in the original. It also had a great deal more sexual overtones, though nothing really overt, happily. But what surprised us was that it managed to do a credible job of being fairly serious at the end, as well. And that was what made the movie really work.

One good thing in the movie's favor, too, is that unlike many other movies this summer, Arthur didn't come to responsibility overnight. It was a long and difficult process for him. And that's the way it should be. I liked the AA bit where he gets a commemorative coin for going six months without booze, and he says something like, "This is the first coin I've ever treasured". But even the AA was handled well, as he basically blew it off the first time he went.

Anyway, I liked almost all of it. My one reservation was Viviene's reaction to Sarah at the wedding. She acted surprised with what she saw, and I can't think why she would have been. She seemed to know Sarah well enough that nothing there should have been unexpected.

But that was a minor note. For the most part, the movie was hilariously brilliant, and brilliantly absurd. Oh, and the extras are also not to be missed. None of them screamed out to me, "I should have been included", but they were very funny. Most of them were either goofs or improvised lines, but they worked, either way.

And I should also point out that the rest of the casting was great. Helen Mirren was, as usual, superb, and did a great job of playing the straight guy throughout. Nick Nolte was also great; I was very amused by his presence as I remember hearing that he had significant substance abuse problems in his past also. (Plus, going into the movie, I had no idea he was in it at all.) And Jennifer Garner was definitely playing against type, but did so very well. And Greta Gerwig rounded out the excellent performances as the other woman.

I will definitely be watching this one again.