Arthur

Yes, I know it was only 24% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes the day I went, but I had to check out Arthur for three reasons:

* Helen Mirren
* Russell Brand
* Helen Mirren

Did I mention Helen Mirren?

The fundamental challenge that this film faces are well-documented and formidable in our current social and economic environment: sympathetically portraying an alcoholic who spends money wildly and capriciously.

One way to address this problem is to try to skate right by it, largely ignoring the personal and social consequences and hoping the audience will play along with you. That's what the original movie did.

Another way is to try to pay at least some heed to these issues. That's where this version went. It was consequently both a more intelligent film than the original and a far more uneven one. They probably would have fared better by trimming a good twenty minutes and making the result far more of a velocity exercise, one that barely let you catch your breath--and thus hoped to lure you away from anything resembling serious consideration of the subject matter.

But they didn't, and so though the film is fun at times, it also drags quite a bit.

Helen Mirren, however, was as lovely and powerful a presence as always. Her intelligence and strength was always evident, but so was her affection--however difficult to understand--for the man-child Arthur.

Russell Brand was predictably at his best in the silly moments. Those that required him to be serious clearly stretched his acting abilities too far.

Greta Gerwig, though scripted to be so basic a character that any modern lips-and-eyes actress could have filled the role, still managed to make you like her--and was a vast improvement over Liza Minelli in the original.

I don't regret going to see the film, but I also can't recommend it wholeheartedly. On balance, save Arthur for your Netflix queue.

Get Him To the Greek

I know what you're thinking: He really will go see any movie. In this case, that reaction is completely understandable, because the trailer made this one look pretty formulaic and dull.

It wasn't.

All of us who went enjoyed it at least a fair amount, and several of us liked it quite a bit. Two things elevated it beyond others of its ilk: Russell Brand, and an ongoing inventiveness that kept it just a tad off the track that similar comedies have beaten to death.

Whether he was clowning it up, chewing the scenery, or providing the odd serious moment, Russell Brand was mesmerizing. At first a clown, he ultimately became a much more complex, disturbing, and very disturbed character. I'd watch the film again just for him.

Though the basic trajectory of the movie was one you've seen before, it really did follow an odd, winding path along that route. For ten minutes or so at a stretch, it would behave as you expected, and then something endearingly or tragically odd would occur.

My favorite line (which I am quoting from memory and so may have slightly wrong): "When life slips you a Jeffrey, stroke the furry wall."

Trust me: It will make sense after you've seen the movie.

Though I didn't expect to say this, I recommend you check it out.