Arthur

Brand is a good fit here
Whenever a remake is released, comparisons to the original are inevitable. Most people tend to go for the original and remakes are rarely as well liked. The 2011 "Arthur" is a good movie though.
Brand is a comedic actor with unique talents but they fit this role like a glove. He is onscreen virtually every minute and it is on his shoulders this movie rests. His "Arthur" is a more a fun loving playboy than Dudley Moore's sloppy drunk and that is a good thing. No one could top John Gielgud's Oscar winning peformance as Hobson but Helen Mirren does a good job nonetheless. The rest of the movie is well cast although in the original, the father of Arthur's poor lover got off some of the funniest lines of the movie and here, he is mostly invisible.
I don't know that this is a better or worse movie than the 1981 original but it is an enjoyable film. Brand is funny and believable and his charms are just right for this version of "Arthur".

Arthur's theme-less
Short attention span summary:

1. Russell Brand does the best that he can do to fill Dudley Moore's shoes. No longer a loveable slushy drunk, Arthur's now a wild boy child, throwing money around doing his best to ease the recession (and possibly share a few std's along the way).

2. Helen Mirren gets caught between the moon and New York City as she lovingly rolls her eyes at his antics and then makes it all better with a stern look and a snappy comment.

3. Greta Gerwig plays his first real love interest (not counting Helen Mirren's character,Hobson), an aspiring writer of children's books by night and an illegal tour guide by day. Her character, Naomi, turns his heart around, and next thing you know, he's closing down the town (or at least Grand Central Station)

4. His fiancée Susan (Jennifer Garner), her dad (Nick Nolte) and his mom (Geraldine James) compete fiercely for the "most unlikeable" award. I know it's crazy, but it's...

Another Remake No One Wanted
The world was not clamoring for an update of the Oscar-winning "Arthur" (1981), but Warner Bros. didn't listen. Russell Brand delivers zero laughs in the Dudley Moore role, with Helen Mirren a decidedly bizarre choice to fill the shoes of John Gielgud. Sitcom director Jason Winer gives the 2011 version a predictable made-for-TV veneer. Best that you can do . . . is avoid.

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