The drinks are watered down in 'Arthur'

It wasn't the most iconic comedy of its decade, which may explain why 1981's "Arthur," starring Dudley Moore as a boozy playboy who falls for a waitress (Liza Minnelli), still feels timeless. Modeled on the screwball comedies of the 1930s, it easily could have been made in that decade. Dust off your VHS copy, and you'll find that the movie's charming fantasy world hasn't dated a whit.

Now here comes the update, with bad boy Russell Brand in the title role, indie darling Greta Gerwig as the lower-income girlfriend and Helen Mirren stepping into John Gielgud's Oscar-winning role of Hobson, the faithful servant. The new "Arthur" is louder, brasher and full of more pop-culture references, which makes it very modern, if not very funny.

Arthur Bach can no longer simply enjoy a limo ride through Central Park; now he crashes a Batmobile into the Charging Bull statue near Wall Street. In a nod to changing gender roles, his society-girl fiancee, Susan Johnson (Jennifer Garner), is recast as an aggressive career woman. And Arthur is no longer just a fun-loving drunk, but a proper alcoholic. Perhaps out of sensitivity to Brand's own background, Arthur attends meetings (or at least tries to).

These changes are a poor substitute for the original's merry spirit and zany dialogue. To compensate, the tall, lanky Brand often mimics his short predecessor (particularly his slurring style) just as the film itself often repeats old lines (though never the funny ones).

As current as this "Arthur" may be, in another 30 years it's the original that will still be worth watching.

Brand needs a woman's touch

What sold Russell Brand on doing the update of "Arthur" was writer Peter Baynham's decision to make Arthur's steadfast caretaker a woman (played by Helen Mirren) instead of a man. (John Gielgud won an Academy Award in the 1981 original for his depiction of Arthur's dry- witted butler, Hobson.)

"For me, that was the idea that made the film feasible," Brand says.

The 35-year-old actor is a longtime admirer of Academy Award winner Mirren ("The Queen"). He worked with her previously, albeit briefly, in Julie Taymor's "The Tempest." "We had a wonderful relationship," Brand recalls of working with the veteran British actress. "I'm a bit in love with Helen. I was very excited about the possibility of working for her, er, I mean with her. That's a weird Freudian slip, isn't it?"

Similarly, Mirren, who plays Arthur's stoic nanny, was in awe of her charming co-star.

"I'd never done a film that is called 'a comedy' before," she says. "I did it because I met Russell and sat on a sofa opposite him for a couple of hours, and he just blew me away. He told me about this film, and he totally seduced me."

-- Entertainment News Wire