Arthur Newman

source: Arthur Newman

A total yawn. Don't know why they made this movie. Two uninteresting people doing a silly thing on a silly road trip. A silly golf pro fakes his own death and ends up with a troubled woman. They break into people's houses. Emily and Colin are not convincing as Americans. They need to stop casting British actors as Americans when they are not suited to the role. Nice to see Anne Heche again but she is totally wasted. How could he do that to his son? Faking his death because his young son is a bit sulky? What a bad father. And things end when it's time to give him a tight slap for all the nonsense he put everyone through.

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 rushed 6/10

In an obvious homage to (if not an outright rip-off of) Arthur Miller's seminal play about facing life in the fast lane of corporate America when a guy is a tortoise, not a hare, Miller's "successful" suicide Willie morphs into a slightly more imaginative "fake" suicide Wallace Avery, who dubs himself Arthur Newman (as in a New Man, get it?) in an attempt to use upwards of $50,000 from his savings account to start a new life. Despite giving himself the first name of a guy married to Marilyn Monroe (Miller), this "fake" Arthur is not a successful author when it comes to writing a fairy tale ending. Instead, he hooks up with an even bigger whacko, Mike (played by Emily Blunt) who is burdened by the urge to impersonate her institutionalized paranoid schizophrenic twin sister, whose condition drove their mom to suicide! Naturally, "Arthur" and "Mike" decide that the best step toward making a happier future for themselves is to stage a series of role-playing home invasions. Is this enough to carry a light comedy? I've seen a lot worse.

Russell's & Cissy's Entertainment Value With Spoilers < 5 out of 10 > Russell and Cissy's Screening Date 2013-04-24 - Regal Winter Park Village Stadium 20 Drama / Cinedigm - Cross Creek Pictures Production / Release Date 2013-04-26 R / Profanity 5+, Drug use smoking, sexual content 4. Running Time 1:28 Not recommended for children under 18. ************************************************* This is a story of a man, Colin Firth, whose son despises him, and his girl friend gives him a hard time. He then decides to fake his death, take a new identity, disappear, and start a new life. Along the way he helps a girl, Emily Hunt, that has also taken a new identity, and is down on her luck. She becomes his companion and follows him to Indiana to work as a golf pro. They are both running away from their family problems trying to start a new life. During their adventure, they eventually realize what they must do to make their lives complete again. The storyline does keep your attention during the entire production, with certain parts left for interpretation. The last four scenes of the movie got me misty eyed.

Arthur Newman (2012) Though the whole enterprise is built on a huge and somewhat false contrivance (a man taking on a new identity and picking up a troubled woman along the way who also is playing games with her identity), it all works better than you might think. And it's largely because of Colin Firth and Emily Blunt, both strong and understated leads. Blunt in particular has qualities that are interesting without merely being "star" material. Firth, of course, is a mega-star and he's playing his quiet man with familiarity here. The director Dante Ariola is only on his second film and the writer is on his first (after a few screenplays based on other people's stories). And I guess it shows in many little ways, including a script that doesn't seem believable at times. Then at other times it's believable but not that interesting. What keeps it floating through these waves is a sense of pace and ease with the two actors, who of course are seasoned and respected stars. This is both a downer movie with two unhappy leads trying to survive their lives and a feel-good movie about people who find something in each other to survive. It's not quite a romance that develops (it's not "Leaving Las Vegas"), but there is a kind of loving co-dependence. It's meant to be deeper and more moving than it is— mostly a issue of the writing again—but you get the drift and it works overall. In the end, at the end, you wish so much it had been more than it was. It has so many interesting qualities that don't get pulled out—the surprising convergence in the plot, the game of taking on identities, the psychological depth of being who you are and accepting that—I felt let down by what did happen. The solutions are a bit obvious and almost cheap, depending on formulas seen before. Which is too bad because the set-up and the actors are worth more than that.

"Arthur Newman" opens with a scene of the main character, Wallace Avery, played by Academy Award winning actor Colin Firth (The King's Speech) talking to an employment worker at the "Florida Department of Labor" as she asks him if he has been looking for work after his last dead-end job. As the audience is gradually introduced to Wallace's hum-drum life, it is quickly evident why he decides to shake things up. Longing for more excitement and giving-up on his efforts to become closer to his son and ex-wife, Wallace sets out for a private adventure to a pro golf course where he was promised a shot at a better life. Carefully planning the steps, Wallace disappears after a camping trip on the beach. His long-time girlfriend, Mina Crawley (Anne Heche) and son are the two who end-up missing Wallace the most and comfort each other with memories and nights of sharing his home together. "Arthur Newman" opens with a scene of the main character, Wallace Avery, played by Academy Award winning actor Colin Firth (The King's Speech) talking to an employment worker at the "Florida Department of Labor" as she asks him if he has been looking for work after his last dead-end job. As the audience is gradually introduced to Wallace's hum-drum life, it is quickly evident why he decides to shake things up. Longing for more excitement and giving-up on his efforts to become closer to his son and ex-wife, Wallace sets out for a private adventure to a pro golf course where he was promised a shot at a better life. Carefully planning the steps, Wallace disappears after a camping trip on the beach. His long-time girlfriend, Mina Crawley (Anne Heche) and son are the two who end-up missing Wallace the most and comfort each other with memories and nights of sharing his home together. Wallace begins a $10,000 new identity "Arhur J. Newman", a name he made-up when asked by a golf pro many years ago, with $20,00 in pocket cash. Early-on along the way, Wallace encounters a spit-fire of a woman who calls herself Mike (Golden Globe winner, Emily Blunt). They find that they have more in common than it originally appears and become steadfast lovers and friends who play a game of taking-on random couples' identities throughout their travels. Running away from pasts which they did not want to face, they conclude their journeys once it becomes evident that the right path was the one they were on all along before they met. "Arthur Newman" is a story about two victims who are also survivors of life's challenges who decide to run away and start anew as two different people. Emily Blunt and Colin Firth are brilliant. The storyline, not so much. The plot line of "Arthur Newman" a is as sketchy as the lead characters' identities. HollywoodJunket.com

Arthur Newman (Colin Firth) is trying to live a new life. He was formerly a struggling golf pro and shipping manager with a nice-looking girlfriend (Anne Heche). But, things were not going well. He was also estranged from his almost-a-teen son. So, since he lives near Jacksonville Florida, he fakes his own death by drowning and takes off. Newman, a fake name for his newly acquired life, is on his way to Terre Haute Indiana to become a posh country club golf pro, with made-up credentials, for the most part. But, on the long journey, he stumbles upon a lady, Mike, er, Michaela, (Emily Blunt) who may be suffering more than he is. She is drunk and Arthur views her being taken to jail by the police. Giving a made up story, Arthur springs her from jail and stays with her until she is sober again. Tentatively, they strike up a friendship, as Mr. Newman learns that Mike may not be her REAL name, either. In any case, Mike agrees to go to Indiana with this handsome man. Along the way, they strangely break into houses that are temporarily empty, try on clothes, take pictures and pretend even more. But, as Arthur soon learns, Mike does have some truly intense baggage in her past. Will they succeed in forging new lives without consequences? This somber, touching film is dead serious most of the time. Oh, the scenes from the dress-up days have humor and there are occasionally funny lines. But, mostly, this movie deals with very complex issues and is not really a light-hearted flick. Naturally, Firth and Blunt, excellent thespians both, do fine work and look great together. Also wonderful is the changing scenery, the supporting cast, and the courage to tackle the anything-but-fairy-tale life of its two main characters. No, its not a movie to watch when you, the viewer, have some sobering problems in your own life. But, fans of these two British thespians will want to try this one, too.

"Arthur Newman" is the new name taken by down-in-the-dumps guy Wallace Avery, who was divorced, estranged from his son and trapped in a dead-end job. He faked his own death and created for himself this fictitious persona, hoping to recapture his spark for life as a golf pro somewhere in middle America. Along his way, he meets another depressed soul in the person of a quirky young woman named Mike. They hook up, and drive aimlessly around. They stalk couples who go on vacation, break in and live in their abandoned houses. Until one day comes, and they realize the uselessness of what they were doing. It is sad for me to write that a movie starring very talented and likable stars like Colin Firth and Emily Blunt had actually been a dreadful bore. The characters these two play have absolutely nothing good nor charming in them for the audience to root for, or even simply to like. There is nothing to care about them. Overall, this movie is an insipid waste of time. This film will be forgotten immediately after you have seen it. The combination of Firth and Blunt may have sounded exciting on paper. However, no amount of talent or charisma of these two stars can save the bleakness and wretchedness of the script.

I watched Arthur Newman simply because I found it by accident. While it's not the best film I've seen, I do believe everyone did a credible job with very little material. Colin Firth and Emily Blunt are good, doing the best they could with the somewhat underdeveloped characters. However, I feel the characters are presented as such on purpose, to make of them what we personally will. The film moves slowly, but is in no way boring. An experienced film buff would be fine with its pace and be relatively engaged in the story line as well. Arthur Newman is not for a generic audience. It requires a specific taste in films to be enjoyed for what it is - a thought-provoking story