Monday, March 9, 2009

Day Forty-Three: Arthur (1981) - Rank 4/5

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It was the birth of Dudley Moore's career and the death of his liver. Watching any film starring the frequently intoxicated actor involves a fairly high level of tolerance, for he dishes out as many bad puns as drinks he consumes. For the better part, I find most of his films enjoyable - "Foul Play" or "Santa Claus: The Movie"...actually, the latter isn't the best example of Moore's work. Now John Lithgow on the other hand...

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In short, Moore is hilarious as playboy Arthur Bach because he's shitfaced for nine tenths of the film (and I have no doubt that much of his inebriation wasn't an act). The whole plot is a tried and true scenario: rich person falls in love with poor person and must decide between wealth or happiness. Nevertheless, I was hooked in the first five minutes when the following dialog takes place between Arthur and a prostitute:

Prostitute: My mother died when I was six.
Arthur: Jesus! Don't they know what that does to a kid?
Prostitute: Then my father raped me when I was twelve.
Arthur: So you had six relatively good years!

I laughed for a solid five minutes and had to rewind just to hear it again. Absolutely brilliant. Of course, my hysterics could have been assisted by a glass of wine. And by glass, I mean bottle. Wait, I forgot where I was going with that.

Watch the Trailer

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