Ouch! The Express on Russell Brand: “I cannot recall a movie in which I took such an instant dislike to the main character”

Henry Fitzherbert of the Daily Express really didn’t like Russell Brand’s film “Arthur” – that’s REALLY didn’t like it:

Russell Brand’s conquest of Hollywood comes to an abrupt halt with Arthur, an astonishingly unwise remake of the fondly-regarded Dudley Moore comedy.

Whereas the 1981 original cemented Moore’s status as a major star, two years after Blake Edwards’s 10, the remake buries Brand’s after a couple of promising supporting parts in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him To The Greek (he played a louche rock star in both).

Here he is front and centre and it is not a pretty sight, literally. Brand’s odd looks are not those of a conventional movie star (one unkind observer compared him with a transvestite horse) but the bigger problem is his abrasive persona. Cuddly Dudley he ain’t.
I cannot recall a movie in which I took such an instant dislike to the main character. Within nanoseconds of setting eyes on Brand’s spoilt, fatuous playboy, Arthur Bach, I hated him.

The film had a disappointing opening weekend at the UK and Ireland box office, taking just £764,468. It entered the chart at number three despite opening at 434 cinemas, averaging £1,761 per screen.

Arthur’s poor opening will be a disappointment to film bosses after a more successful US opening of $12.2m (£7.4m) in its first three days.

Gramilano( Editor )

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano’) about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.

His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia’ column for Dancing Times magazine.