It’s not that hard to win over audiences with a story between a man and a canine.

When it comes to Hollywood Cinema it’s straightforward to pull the heartstrings of the viewers by telling a heartwarming story about a man’s relationship with his dog.  This is not to say that Mark Wahlberg found a way to screw up that formula,  it’s only meant to say that the bar is very low when it comes to Achieving that goal.

At this point in Mark Wahlberg’s career, you pretty much know what you’re going to get out of him. He isn’t going to surprise you with an Academy Award-winning performance,  but he won’t be as bad as he was in The Happening.  Wahlberg has found favor in his career when he can bring a real-life story to the big screen.  films such as Deepwater Horizon, Patriots Day, and Father Stew have proven this over the last several years.  So if Walberg can do the same thing with the film entitled Arthur the King,  moviegoers should be in a pretty good mood.

Arthur the King is the story of a selfish competitive man named Michael Light who suffers defeat in three Consecutive Adventure Racing World Championships in Costa Rica. Michael is the man who knows how to win but he doesn’t have the ability.  Michael’s inability to work well with a team has cost him several championships to the point where sponsors no longer want to Grant him money as they see him as a losing investment.

He manages to find an investor who is willing to sponsor him but only under the guys that he brings one of his old teammates back into the fold.  With one last chance to prove to the world that he could be a winner on the grand stage, Michael assembles his best team to date however the team gets a new member in the form of a stray dog who has followed them throughout the jungles of the Dominican Republic.  When the dog shows that he has more Resolve than the rest of the team,  Michael takes an even stronger liking to him and the race becomes a little more than winning.

The best way to describe this movie is serviceable. As mentioned earlier you’re not going to get any new tricks out of Mark Wahlberg and that’s saying remains true for this movie.  Early on as  Wahlberg’s character is yelling at a bunch of nameless faceless corporate executives it almost feels like you’re watching a scene from Wahlberg’s previous movie such as a painting game play out again.

At this point in his career, Wahlberg is only as good as the people around him, and in front of the camera, there’s not much to work with.  Arthur the Dog showcases a couple of noticeable faces such as Simu Liu Who most people know from the  Shang Chi movie and Nathalie Emmanuel who is known for her work in the Fast and Furious franchise. The problem is that their characters are very one note in one dimensional in this movie and the actors aren’t given much else to work with to bring life to the story.

Behind the scenes you have writer Michael Brandt known for his work in the various NBC Chicago television shows,  working alongside director Simon Cellan Jones Who has worked on a few projects with Wahlberg in the past.

This is a film that Hedges his bets that the audience will be sold and thrilled with the relationship between Wahlberg’s character and his canine companion that a lot of the other flaws in the movie will fall between the cracks. The problem is the canine character is not present for as much of the movie as you would think and when he is absent in the film the movie comes off as a generic Adventure movie as if someone decided to bring CBS’s The Amazing Race To Life.

Arthur the King is a film that is right down the middle which makes it a mediocre film at best.  a movie that is not bad enough to be terrible but not good enough to be memorable is a film that is good for one viewing and not much else.

A film for people who are desperate for a heartwarming movie to watch in movie theaters however I doubt your desperation will match the effort that is given in this film. 

2.5/5

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