Arthur 2 - On the Rocks

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Movie
German title Arthur 2 - On the Rocks
Original title Arthur 2: On the Rocks
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1988
length 108 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Bud Yorkin
script Andy Breckman
production Dudley Moore ,
Robert Shapiro
music Burt Bacharach
camera Stephen H. Burum
cut Michael Kahn
occupation
chronology

←  Predecessor
Arthur - Not a child of sadness

Arthur 2 - On the Rocks is an American comedy film from 1988 and the sequel to Arthur: No Child of Sadness (1981). In Germany the film was not shown in cinemas, but was released on video on February 10, 1989.

action

The storyline ties in with its predecessor: the constantly drunk and filthy rich multimillionaire as well as lovable, naive idiot and good-for-nothing Arthur Bach has been happily married to his wife Linda for seven years. After Linda finds out she is sterile, they both try to adopt a child.

But the couple's plans are thwarted by Burt Johnson, the rich father of Arthur's ex-fiancé Susan Johnson, who was abandoned in the first part in favor of the then waitress Linda. Burt Johnson gets Arthur's family member to freeze his $ 750 million fortune, but promises Arthur to give him his money back if he divorces Linda in order to marry Susan. Arthur and Linda forego the offer and lose all of their worldly possessions. Johnson makes life even more difficult for both of them by buying up every company that Arthur approaches for a job. He also buys every apartment that Arthur and Linda want to move into. When fate finally becomes unbearable, Linda even leaves Arthur.

Arthur is now trying to deal with the situation by pulling himself together and for the first time seriously fighting his alcoholism and getting dry. He ends up coping with his life, getting his fortune back, getting back together with Linda and actually adopting a baby, although it turns out that Linda has become pregnant anyway.

Reviews

Arthur 2 received almost unanimous negative reviews from the critics, mostly of the opinion that the film was not funny compared to its predecessor and that the main character Arthur no longer worked in the sequel. Liza Minnelli was awarded the Golden Raspberry in the Worst Actress category for her role in this film and in Rent-a-Cop (1987) .

Roger Ebert wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times that the main drawback of the film was that in the course of its plot the main character Arthur, in contrast to the previous film, developed further. This gives Arthur tragedy, but at the same time loses comedy. The viewer is not interested in Arthur's sensible attempts to solve his problems - the film changes from a comedy to a sitcom when Arthur improves . The character only worked in the previous film because Arthur had no ability to react appropriately to his surroundings in any way.

Vincent Canby wrote in The New York Times that Arthur was boring in this sequel, his wife Linda, who still found him funny in the film, therefore appeared to be suffering from a loss of reality. The film is a doomed company and has only two characters who are reasonably well played: Arthur's friend Fairchild and Arthur's ex-fiancée Susan Johnson.

Desson Howe wrote in The Washington Post that the film was about as funny as an alcoholic's plight. Insofar as Arthur 2 had any meaning, it was to have initiated the death of the "Happy Drunk" character in the film. In the same issue of the Washington Post , Rita Kempley wrote that the film was not a sequel but a relapse: Neither Dudley Moore nor the alcoholism that was supposed to carry the film was more funny. There is nothing to be found in the film except for a tortured plot, tiresome characters and an idiotic ending.

Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote in the Chicago Reader that there wasn't a single laugh in the film, but didn't blame Andy Breckman's script (which he called second-rate), but rather the direction of Bud Yorkin, which he described as listless and undecided.

The lexicon of international films judged the film to be a “ punchy continuation” and “a predominantly amusing farce with a slightly bitter aftertaste”.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Arthur 2 - On the Rocks in the Lexicon of International FilmsTemplate: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used
  2. ^ Roger Ebert : Arthur 2 On The Rocks . In: Chicago Sun-Times , July 8, 1988.
  3. ↑ Vincent Canby : Arthur 2: On the Rocks (1988) . In: The New York Times , July 8, 1988.
  4. ↑ Desson Howe: Arthur 2: On the Rocks . In: The Washington Post , July 8, 1988.
  5. ^ Rita Kempley: Arthur 2: On the Rocks . In: The Washington Post , July 8, 1988.
  6. ↑ Jonathan Rosenbaum: Arthur 2 On the Rocks . In: Chicago Reader .