Arthur Newman (2013)

To me, this movie is perfection.

the audience applauded

Absolutely the worst movie.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Like many of the viewers I chose to watch this for the stars, King George VI and Queen Victoria (Firth and Blunt) But I would have given it a pass if I had looked up the reviews before taking it out of my local library . Big mistake.Never have I seen a film so consistently panned, and never have I thought the critics so consistently mistaken! Both the professional critics and other amateur viewers. To be fair, the latter gave it slightly better ratings, but not much better. Few of either stripe liked it.Granted, it is not an easy film to watch. Its not a comedy and its not a road movie though it is zany and it does take place on the road. In fact it is in a category all its own, and for anyone who understands Colin Firth's line "Family just crushes your heart, doesn't it?", it is a deeply moving observation of what it means to be human. I won't say I came away from the movie feeling good, but I did come away feeling less alone.These are the last words spoken in the film, before each of the leading characters returns separately from their wild escapade to shoulder their family responsibilities. We see, and feel, them doing this with no words spoken.Charlotte(Mike) "Good bye, Wallace"Wallace(Arthur) "Don't worry. I know where to find you!"I give it 10 out of 10 Don't miss it.

Wallace Avery (Colin Firth) is hated by his own son, and is completely bored of his lifestyle. He fakes his death, and assumes a new identity named Arthur Newman to recommence his life. He meets a troubled woman who calls herself Mike (Emily Blunt) who also happens to be starting over with her life. I actually didn't mind this film. It's a decent story. Colin Firth & Emily Blunt are on the top of their game, and managed to make this movie thoroughly watchable. My problem with the movie is that it seems a bit hollow. It's hard to feel sympathy for someone we don't know much about. Wallace Avery is a man with an estranged son, and a bit of an identity crisis, and I had real issues with it. Despite that Colin Firth was excellent himself, his character isn't that endearing. All we really know is that he's bored of his current lifestyle. I wanted more emotion, more background, and more development with the character. It seemed a little rushed. Emily Blunt's unpredictability was always fun, but like Firth, I also wanted more background on her, despite that Blunt was absolutely tremendous with her performance. I was never bored at all, and it had moments that were really good, but some things were poorly developed to my taste. The ending is rather ambiguous. It doesn't end on a sad note, but all it really tells us is that both of their fantasies of starting a new life is over, and it's back to reality. I appreciated that it had the guts to take a risky route at the end, but more clarity also would have been nice, since the movie is rather depressing to watch. Final Thoughts: It's certainly worth a look. It'll maintain your interest, if nothing else. Colin Firth & Emily Blunt will get you through it just fine. It's just too bad it was rushed6/10

Arthur Newman is a comedy/drama that features Colin Firth, Emily Blunt and Anne Heche together with David Andrews,Sterling Beaumon,Kristin Lehman and Lucas Hedges.The screenplay is directed by Becky Johnson and it is directed by Dante Ariola.The movie tells the story of the not so glorious life of Wallace Avery, a middle aged man who hates his job, gets no respect from his family, wife and son, and sees no accomplishments for his long term hopes.Finally decided to end this charade, he gets hit by a new ideology: "If you don't have a life, get someone else's". Not willing to waste anymore precious time, he fakes his own death and assumes the identity of Arthur Newman, opening new opportunities and ready to start a new life.When he meets Michaela "Mike" Fitzgerald, whom Arthur discovers passed out poolside at a seedy roadside motel.Eventually,painful secrets unfold and new lives take shape as he is about to discover a new world and a new style of living on the edge, which however it seems to be somehow what he was looking for a very long time. Too bad that the film doesn't display any real interest in capturing and sustaining the viewer's interest, as it progresses at an unreasonably deliberate pace that's compounded by a narrative that's jam-packed with hackneyed elements and twists.Also,the viewer is subsequently forced to wait for something interesting or worthwhile to occur, and it goes without saying that the movie's ability to stave off total mediocrity is due primarily to Blunt and Firth's competent acting. The generic feel that's been hard-wired into virtually everything that transpires within as it grows more and more disheartening as time progresses, which does, as expected, prevent one from working up any interest in the characters' inevitable transformation into happier, more content figures.Added to that,there's a real lack of depth, as evidenced by a thin subplot about the burgeoning relationship between Arthur's grieving girlfriend and his son. It's a shame, really, as Arthur Newman could and should have been something good, instead of a disappointing waste of time both for those involved in its production and for those saddled with the task of watching it.

The bad reviews are right; this movie is boring and pointless. The principle reason is the script. There's just nothing there. It's hard to see why, out of the countless scripts Hollywood has to choose from, this one was made into a movie and brought to a theater near you. Colin Firth and Emily Blunt are wasted in this piece of nothing. To make it worse, you are seeing an especially frumpy version of Colin Firth, made to look like a middle-aged Rotarian in the seventies, aviator glasses and all. The premise is that he is a floor manager for UPS, with a fiancée and a son. He just decides to abandon them by faking his own death so he can be a golf pro in the Midwest using a fake identity. His character is blank and bland with no interesting characteristics. Even his flight from reality is bland. Emily Blunt plays a bad girl who is also running away, but there's nothing really interesting there either. I walked out of the movie half way through when the characters were supposedly getting together while pretending to be an elderly couple (don't ask). Most theaters chains have a refund policy. They will refund your money if you leave in the first half hour or fifteen minutes of the movie.