Alert The Media

Last night I checked out the remake of Arthur, starring Russell Brand in the title role. The original is one of those movies that is so intertwined with my childhood and my general consciousness that I don't remember when I saw it for the first time. (Others like this include The Indiana Jones movies, The Star Wars Trilogy, Field of Dreams) And I've been charmed by Brand, due to his appearances on Conan and SNL, and his marriage to Katy Perry and the way they relate to each other, plus Helen Mirren is fantastic, so I had middling hopes that I'd at least enjoy myself.

I laughed a lot, and the movie definitely has a lot of heart. It has it's own story to tell, and tells it in a different way, so it feels a little bit more like Ocean's 11 in the remake way, rather than something like Sabrina.

However, unlike Ocean's 11, it doesn't actually improve upon the original. A preachy soul searching ending kills a lot of the fun. For Dudley Moore and Liza Minelli, having each other in the end was enough, bu Russell Brand and the adorable Greta Gerwig, they must be self actualized as well. (She becomes a children's book author, and he joins AA and stops running around New York in a top hat!)

The movie still has a lot of quotable moments, and I didn't mention Jennifer Garner, who does a good job of updating the role of Susan, Arthur's socialite fiance, (instead of a dippy social climbing ice queen, she's a tough as nails corporate ladder climbing ice queen), but I somehow doubt that in thirty years there will be grown ups who quote this movie to their children when they announce that they're going to use the potty.

Nothing makes you quit announcing that faster than ten adults saying in a snooty British accent, "I'll alert the media!" And then laughing for ten minutes.