Review by James Lindorf
Actor W.C. Fields is credited with coining the old Hollywood adage that you should never work with kids or animals. When he said that he wasn’t necessarily talking about their disinterest in schedules and unpredictability, the performer was more interested in their ability to steal the spotlight from their adult costars. In 1905, a British dog named Rover was the first to be known by audiences as more than just a pet. It took another five years before America got its first canine star in a Collie named Jean, featured in over two dozen silent films. Since then, there have been dozens, if not hundreds, of movies and TV shows featuring our four-legged friends. We all know the names Lassie, Rin-Tin-Tin, Benji, Buddy, Beethoven, and Cujo, and except for that last one, they have all made families fall in love with the characters and often their breeds. While stealing thousands of scenes from human actors. The latest name moviegoers will learn is Arthur. While he may be more mutt than purebred like most on-screen dogs, he’s more than capable of stealing the shine away from the human cast of “Arthur the King,” including Mark Wahlberg, Simu Liu, and Nathalie Emmanuel when it opens everywhere on March 15th.
Arthur may be a new name for movie fans, but adventure racing fans have been waiting ten years for this moment. For those who don’t know, Adventure racing (also called expedition racing) is typically a team sport involving navigation over an unmarked wilderness course, often by watercraft, biking, running, and mountain climbing, with races lasting anywhere from two hours to two weeks. At the 2014 Adventure Racing World Championship in the Dominican Republic, racer Michael Light (Mark Wahlberg) was desperate for one last chance at a win. But the community was weary of what the older racer had left in the tank. Michael had to beg and plead for a sponsorship to get his team of athletes (Simu Liu, Nathalie Emmanuel, and Ali Suliman) a spot in the race. The course for the championship covered 435 miles across land and sea, with teams given a maximum of 10 days to complete the challenge. Along the way, Michael forged a bond with a scrappy street dog he dubbed Arthur. As the team pushed to the limits of endurance, Arthur redefined victory, loyalty, and friendship.
“Arthur the King” is everything you would expect from a family movie inspired by actual events. First, not all of the events happened as depicted. Characters and drama have been created for or omitted from the story to make for a more streamlined and entertaining experience. Even with all of the changes, the script from Michael Brandt (3:10 to Yuma, 2 Fast 2 Furious) does keep the heart and life-changing nature of Arthur’s experience. And that experience is depicted precisely as you would expect it to be. Yes, there are emotional moments in the film for animal lovers and people with strong competitive spirits, but every story beat is expected. Nothing surprises you, but the fact that it can still have an impact even when seen from a mile away speaks to the quality of the film in general and the performances more specifically.
“Arthur the King” is Wahlberg’s second movie with director Simon Cellan Jones; they previously worked together on last year’s “The Family Plan.” In the past, Wahlberg’s performances have been inconsistent, rarely bad, but not always his best. Being with a familiar director helps bring out the best in him, and he is consistently strong throughout. A strong performance was greatly needed because he had to carry most of the film’s emotional weight. It is Michael who most closely bonds with Arthur, and he is driven by the fear of his career ending never having achieved a championship win. Chik’s (Suliman) motivation is similar to Michael’s, but he also struggles financially. While they comment on how it has affected his life and relationship, it doesn’t have the same impact because it is over so quickly. Olivia (Emmanuel) has her own reasons for racing when she would rather be at home. They were so disinterested in developing that storyline that a single popcorn refill or bathroom trip and you may never know how she was there. Then there is Leo (Liu), who is there to give Michael a hard time and to keep his brand in the spotlight. He may have the most challenging backstory to connect with, but Liu gives the film’s best performance. You can love Leo and sometimes hate him, but you like Liu the entire time. You know he is giving a charismatic and engaging performance because even when you don’t like Leo, you can’t say he is wrong, even though you really want to.
Predictability for family movies is, unfortunately, the norm and not the exception. While I wanted something more daring, you are doing okay if your biggest problem is sticking to the playbook. The other list of issues is pretty trivial. While the movie is based on a book about Arthur and named after the dog, it is 100% Wahlberg’s movie. If they hadn’t done cutaways to show Arthur and Michael struggling in their own way, we wouldn’t have met the dog until at least the halfway point. Then, once the dog is there, they give it a mystical feeling, like fate, or a God, is driving their actions. It brings nothing to the movie and stretches the limits of the “inspired by true events” tag. Then, there is the single worst element of the film, Mark Wahlberg’s facial hair. It doesn’t look good and is distracting until there is enough action going on to take away from it. It was a design choice that doesn’t fit the film because I don’t get the impression that his wife, or his real estate mogul father, would let him get away with it in his daily life. As I said, the problems are all relatively small. They’re not enough to weigh the film down, but there isn’t enough to lift it to great heights, either. “Arthur the King” is a perfectly fine and enjoyable experience that some kids in particular will love and their parents will quickly forget. For that reason, I have to award “Arthur the King” 3 out of 5 points.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama, Adventure
Director: Simon Cellan Jones
Producer: Mark Canton, Luis Ignacio Rodriguez, Tucker Tooley, Courtney Solomon, Tessa Tooley, Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson
Writer: Michael Brandt
Release Date: March 15th, 2024
Runtime: 1h 30m
Distributor: Lionsgate
