Arthur, despite its all-star comedic cast and some quick writing, suffers from romantic comedy cliches. The film chronicles the life of an insanely wealthy trust fund bachelor as he is forced to marry a cold-hearted businesswoman to preserve the integrity of his family’s company.

Of course, he then meets the woman of his dreams in a chance encounter and must
choose between the money or her.

Yawn.

For all intents and purposes, the latest remake of the hit romantic comedy Arthur, with Russell Brand taking the lead role, is your standard romantic-comedy. It follows the time tested pattern for the genre — a first half filled with kind-hearted jokes, complete with a “lovable-yet-immature” male protagonist who gets into ridiculous shenanigans, followed by a predictable second half. And since Russell Brand is playing a half-drunk, billionaire playboy, the antics are great and plentiful. Within the first 10 minutes, Brand crashes a newly-purchased Batmobile into Wall Street’s Charging Bull statue. When the police pull Brand out of the car, they accuse him of being drunk again. Brand responds to that with, “No, I have just been continually drunk since our last encounter.” This sort of wit and banter fills the whole movie and, in some instances, it is quite on the mark. But then the antics grow a tad stale and the turn happens.

The turn is marked by a revelation of truth, followed by a tearful confrontation, then a montage of people looking up at ceilings wistfully, out the window wistfully and at their breakfast wistfully. Basically, it’s a bunch of blank stares into space. After this, Arthur suffers. Gone are the antics and witty banter, and a more serious tone overtakes the film as he tries to win back the woman he truly loves and end his alcoholism. The rest of the film is far too predictable for me even to write down, so you may venture a guess to see if he ends up with the one he truly loves. The film does have its moments, if briefly, so go for them if you need a cheap laugh, even if it’s not for the plot.

On a scale of 1 to 17, 17 being The Godfather and 1 being the Adventures of Pluto Nash, Arthur is a 7.