Arthur : At last a Hollywood remake that looks better than the Original

I have just seen the trailer for this movie. At first I thought, what is the point. The original was a mawkish and over-sentimental mess. On the negative side, it has Russell Brand being Russell Brand. On the positive side it has neither Dudley Moore nor Liza Minnelli. Also, the trailer actually looks funny. Of course, they could have welded together all the jokes from the entire movie into the trailer, but I am hopeful that this will for once be a Hollywood remake that is better than the Original (and lets face it, it would be difficult to be worse).

Yet again I have to ask - why?

I haven't seen the original for a while, but I recall it as being a generally amusing comedy, whereas the remake features the comedy vacuum Russell Brand, rather than half of Pete and Dud, so it's obviously going to be worse than the original.

I concur with The C=O and Nick on this. Another pointless remake from an increasingly creatively bankrupt Hollywood. Even Helen Mirren isn't enough to save this.

Nick Barlow wrote:I haven't seen the original for a while, but I recall it as being a generally amusing comedy, whereas the remake features the comedy vacuum Russell Brand, rather than half of Pete and Dud, so it's obviously going to be worse than the original.

Thing is, I don't find Dudley Moore in the slightest bit funny. Peter Cook was a comic genius, Dud was just there to show how good Pete really was. Without Cook, Moore just floundered. I probably laughed more in the trailer for the remake than I did in the whole of the original.

The Browncoat Cat wrote:Thing is, I don't find Dudley Moore in the slightest bit funny. Peter Cook was a comic genius, Dud was just there to show how good Pete really was. Without Cook, Moore just floundered. I probably laughed more in the trailer for the remake than I did in the whole of the original.

There's a genuine art to being the straight man in a comedy duo. Moore had it - Ernie Wise was the pinnacle of the artform. And as brilliant as Cook undoubtedly was - his film career post Pete and Dud was an absolute disaster.

Russell Brand is no Dudley Moore. No warmth, likeability, wit or charm. Not even close.

Sid Seadevil wrote:Russell Brand is no Dudley Moore. No warmth, likeability, wit or charm. Not even close.

This. Can't say I'm interested in the film.

Oh, I think it's more than safe to say I'll allow this one to sail right on past me.

Sid Seadevil wrote:There's a genuine art to being the straight man in a comedy duo. Moore had it - Ernie Wise was the pinnacle of the artform. And as brilliant as Cook undoubtedly was - his film career post Pete and Dud was an absolute disaster.

As my friend used to say, Bud Abbott was the perfect "strait man", unfortunately, so was Lou Costello.

Sid Seadevil wrote:There's a genuine art to being the straight man in a comedy duo.

Oh undoubtedly. You need to have impeccable timing and the ability to strike the perfect balance between not overshadowing the lead and being a character in your own right (and I agree that Ernie was the master). But that doesn't take away from the fact that Arthur, 10, Santa Claus the Movie et al are wee-weak because they lack a star that's genuinely funny in his own right.

Now, I doubt that Russell Brand will improve the film, but that's another matter...