Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Best movie ever!

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

From the point of view of script and character study the picture doesn't offer very much to think about, dialogues are not that interesting, and characters, taken both as individuals with personal conflicts, and as parts of complicated relationships are not well developed, each of them leading a difficult life, carrying a painful past, but never coming out thoroughly.What stands out is the unexpected chemistry between Colin Firth and Emily Blunt, being both talented actors, they offer solid performances and can involve the viewer, along their escape in this kind of road movie, although their search for other people's identities always remains at a superficial level. In the end the viewer wonders where the point was and the final turning point sounds predictable and too hasty. Had the movie had a different, more dramatic but more realistic finale, it would have certainly gained more depth and credibility.

Director Dante Ariola may not have a lot of credentials as yet, but taking chances with stories such as this one written by Becky Johnston (Seven Years in Tibet, The Prince of Tides, etc), stories that dare take the unexpected path for how people are finding the human condition rather chaotic, suggests that we have a very creative artist in the making. Blessed with a quartet of fine actors in the leading roles and a small but impressive supporting cast, this film is just far enough off center to make it refreshingly refreshing.The story follows the mid-life travails of sad sack FedEx floor manager Wallace Avery (Colin Firth) who is estranged from his ex-wife and angry young son Grant (Sterling Beaumon) and spends his time with his 'lover' Mina (Anne Heche in a fine performance) who loves him despite the fact that Wallace is boring. He decides to refuse to face a life he hates, stages his own death and buys himself a new identity as Arthur Newman. However, Arthur's road trip towards a new life is interrupted by the arrival of the beautiful but fragile Mike (Emily Blunt), who is also trying to leave her past behind: her mother committed suicide, her sister is in a mental institution, and Mike has assumed her sister's name to avoid having to create a life of her own. Drawn to one another, these two damaged souls begin to connect as they break into empty homes and take on the identities of the absent owners - elderly newlyweds, a high- roller and his Russian lady, among others - all supposedly brief moments on their road trip to Terre Haute, Indiana where Arthur believes he has a job as a golf pro - the promise of a chance encounter with one strange Fred Willoughby (the gifted David Andrews). That goal is a dead end, and through this process, Arthur and Mike discover that what they love most about each other are the identities they left at home, and their real journey begins.Colin Firth and Emily Blunt are consummate actors and bring these odd characters to life: they successfully manage comedic situations but always hold closely to the sad underpinnings of their characters' tortured souls. The story is odd, being a variation of a road trip by very lonely and desperate people, but somehow it enters the head and heart and is cause for contemplation. Grady Harp

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.