On A List of Movie Reviews
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Arthur (1981)
Rate:
1
Viewed:
2/11
2/11:
Wow, Arthur has left me shocked enough to question how truly stupid the people were in 1981.
What was the Academy thinking? It was the year of Chariots of Fire,
Raiders of the Lost Ark,
Escape from New York, Body Heat,
Das Boot, Scanners,
On Golden Pond, and Zorro, The Gay Blade.
Surely, they're stellar films that are heads and shoulders above Arthur, yet this
dreck managed to secure a Best Actor nomination for Dudley Moore and a Best Supporting Actor win for John Gielgud. You must
thoroughly joking me because they're terrible!
It has to be one of the most effortless pictures I've seen, and the script is barely thought-out. John Gielgud
hardly does much. Again, I'm still shocked he won the Oscar. The characters aren't properly developed. Even the fiancée
is 100% cardboard with no shred of humanity, and playing her, Liza Minnelli looks ghastly pale throughout.
I didn't know why the butler made snide remarks about his employer. Interestingly, after he passed away,
it's as if he never existed. Watching Dudley Moore attempt to roll off his feeble "jokes" (which are bad, bad,
bad, bad!) while laughing maniacally, I was like, "Really?"
From start to finish, the film is as unfunny as it can be, and I didn't laugh once. The reason why Arthur is
hard to watch is that it's about an alcoholic making a fool of himself. There's nothing comic about it or drunk
driving. Historically, millions, if not billions, of people have thrown their lives away to alcohol, and it still continues.
I ask again: why does everybody want me to find the movie funny? On the other hand, why should I fall in love with an
alcoholic who does nothing with his life but drink? To make matters worse, the fact that Arthur is a super millionaire—nay,
almost a billionaire—is a slap in the face for the regular folks who are trying to get through day-to-day while surviving on
minimum wage. What if the situations are reversed and it's Arthur who's on skid row?
All in all, Arthur is the worst picture of 1981.