Imagine my surprise when out of the blue and without any pre-release buzz or ads this movie showed on a single screen for all of Greater Cincinnati this weekend. I figured that this will not stick around very long and hence I went to see it right away."Arthur Newman" (2013 release; 100 min.) brings the story of a man (played by Colin Firth) who is in the dumps: he just got fired from his job, his ex-wife does not care for him, and his 13 yr. old son hates the mere sight of him. As the movie opens, we see Colin Firth acquiring a new identity, actually someone who passed away a few years ago named Arthur Newman. He then fakes his own death and takes off, as a "new man". Arthur plans on driving from Florida to Terre Haute, IN, where a job as a golf instructor awaits. But on his first night on the road, he makes the acquaintance of a young woman (played by Emily Blunt), who herself is running away from her own troubles, and using her twin sister's identity ("Mike") along the way. Mike decides to join Arthur on the trip to Indiana. To tell you much more of the plot would ruin your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Several comments: first, this is a road movie for the most part, as we follow the two main characters from motel to hotel, and from town to town, on their way to Indiana. Second, the main characters are engulfed in melancholy as on the one hand they are running away from something, yet at the same time are pining for love and someone who understands their problems. Both performances from Colin Firth and Emily Blunt are ace from start to finish. Blunt has been on an incredible run recently (just last year alone I saw her in Your Sister's Sister, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Looper and the Five Year Engagement, and she shone in just about all of them), and she continues that hot streak in this movie.
This movie gathered positive buzz last Fall when it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, and I had been waiting eagerly to see it. The screening I saw this at here in Cincinnati was not particularly well attended, and so I doubt this will stick around long in the theaters. That said, I enjoyed this movie quite a bit, and if you are in the mood for something where things don't blow up every 5 minutes, I would readily recommend "Arthur Newman".
We watch:
* Colin Firth ("A Single Man" and "The King's Speech") speaking American (!), is Arthur Newman, a frustrated wanna-be golf pro who, after a down-hill slide, has decided to reinvent himself. "New man," get it? He cleverly fakes his own death and hits the road.
* Emily Blunt ("Your Sister's Sister") also speaking American, is Mike, a young woman with nothing to lose. She encounters our hero on the road and they proceed to go adventuring...
* Anne Heche ("Cedar Rapids") is Mena, the girl he left behind. She knows he's boring, but she loves him anyway.
* Lucas Hedges ("Moonrise Kingdom") is Grant, our hero's son. It turns out that he is the most compelling reason for Arthur Newman to re-think his decision.
As our couple journeys on, they break into people's houses and take on the personalities (and clothes!) of the occupants. They are far more comfortable being someone else than being themselves. The tagline is: "If you don't have a life, get someone else's." They find this great...until it isn't.
This is no light-hearted romp, but we are in the hands of pros. Both Firth and Blunt are wonderful actors, so there is no quibble about the quality of their work. I would like... Maybe... Oh, I don't know WHAT I would like... Maybe the DVD from Amazon will help me decide.
Buy Arthur Newman (Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack) (2012) Now
"Arthur Newman," (2012) is a new independently-made American road picture/comedy/romantic drama starring two British actors with comedy chops, Colin Firth and Emily Blunt. It was directed by Dante Ariola from a screen play by Becky Johnston, (Seven Years In Tibet [HD]. And I'm going to quote its plot summary, written by its screenwriter Johnston, as posted at The Internet Movie Database:Wallace Avery hates his job. His ex-wife and son hate him, and he's blown his one shot at living his dream. Not wanting to face all this, he stages his own death and buys himself a new identity as Arthur Newman. However, Arthur's road trip towards a new life is interrupted by the arrival of the beautiful but fragile Mike, who is also trying to leave her past behind. Drawn to one another, these two damaged souls begin to connect as they break into empty homes and take on the identities of the absent owners: elderly newlyweds, a high-roller and his Russian lady, among others. Through this process, Arthur and Mike discover that what they love most about each other are the identities they left at home, and their real journey, that of healing, begins.
The acting is competent to the job. The well-born Colin Firth, once such tasty eye candy, now looking very middle-aged, plays Arthur. (See The King's Speech for which he won the Best Actor Oscar, Bridget Jones's Diary, Love Actually, Pride and Prejudice (Restored Edition). The equally well-born Emily Blunt, a Golden Globe winner for The Devil Wears Prada, plays Mike. Anne Heche, (Six Days, Seven Nights, Donnie Brasco), an actor with a more eventful private life than most of Hollywood, plays Arthur's girlfriend Mina Crawley.
But remarkably little happens in this road picture; most scenes are reminiscent of actor's studio exercises. The rather distasteful scenes of the couple breaking into people's houses and play-acting as the occupants while they make love have a desperate vibe, as in, `We gotta do sumphin. We need more screen time." (The film runs only 101 minutes). And it flies in the face of common sense for a man who has tasted some success in golfing under his real name Wallace Avery, to think he can capitalize on that success under the A/K/A of `a new man.'
The film was largely made in North Carolina, so it gives us some lovely scenery with which most viewers will not be familiar. Some of it was filmed quite close to my Carolina Beach residence; the beach scenes at Fort Fisher. Coles Motel? Well, that's very near our cute little beachy keen library branch. So that's a plus for us--rather few -local residents and visitors. But, sorry, I can't recommend the film.
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