Wallace Avery (Colin Firth) is hated by his own son, and is completely bored of his lifestyle. He fakes his death, and assumes a new identity named Arthur Newman to recommence his life. He meets a troubled woman who calls herself Mike (Emily Blunt) who also happens to be starting over with her life.

I actually didn't mind this film. It's a decent story. Colin Firth & Emily Blunt are on the top of their game, and managed to make this movie thoroughly watchable. My problem with the movie is that it seems a bit hollow. It's hard to feel sympathy for someone we don't know much about. Wallace Avery is a man with an estranged son, and a bit of an identity crisis, and I had real issues with it. Despite that Colin Firth was excellent himself, his character isn't that endearing. All we really know is that he's bored of his current lifestyle. I wanted more emotion, more background, and more development with the character. It seemed a little rushed. Emily Blunt's unpredictability was always fun, but like Firth, I also wanted more background on her, despite that Blunt was absolutely tremendous with her performance. I was never bored at all, and it had moments that were really good, but some things were poorly developed to my taste. The ending is rather ambiguous. It doesn't end on a sad note, but all it really tells us is that both of their fantasies of starting a new life is over, and it's back to reality. I appreciated that it had the guts to take a risky route at the end, but more clarity also would have been nice, since the movie is rather depressing to watch.

Final Thoughts: It's certainly worth a look. It'll maintain your interest, if nothing else. Colin Firth & Emily Blunt will get you through it just fine. It's just too bad it was rushed

6/10

A total yawn. Don't know why they made this movie. Two uninteresting people doing a silly thing on a silly road trip. A silly golf pro fakes his own death and ends up with a troubled woman. They break into people's houses.

Emily and Colin are not convincing as Americans. They need to stop casting British actors as Americans when they are not suited to the role. Nice to see Anne Heche again but she is totally wasted.

How could he do that to his son? Faking his death because his young son is a bit sulky? What a bad father.

And things end when it's time to give him a tight slap for all the nonsense he put everyone through.

I guess I can see why Colin Firth would be attracted to the role of a depressed American, but really, the script wasn't up to his level.

Firth and Emily Blunt star in "Arthur Newman," a 2012 film directed by Dante Ariola. Wallace Avery (Firth) is unhappy at his job as a floor manager. He's divorced, has a girlfriend (Anne Heche), and a young son who hates him. An excellent golfer, he didn't make it as a pro because of nerves. However, he helped a man with his slice, and as a result, has been offered the job of golf pro at a club in Terre Haute, Indiana. He fakes his death and takes off.

Along the way, he helps a young woman (Blunt) by taking her to the hospital. When she's better, she goes with him. Eventually, they become lovers. He finds out she's using a fake identity as well, running from a twin sister who is schizophrenic and may need her.

The two of them start to break into people's houses and take on their identities and make love in their beds.

This is a pretty boring, slow movie enlivened by the performances of the two leads. Along the way we learn something about the characters, but not enough to become truly invested in them. We just know they're miserable. We know Wallace's son hates him because he wasn't there for him, but we don't know why or what went on between them, or what happened with his ex-wife, and why his girlfriend is discontented.

It's sad because this could have been an amazing movie. It's about two people that learn what they love about each other and their value to those left behind. But it doesn't go into these facets deeply enough.

Both Firth and Blunt are excellent, trying to flesh out what's there. In the end, I was sympathetic to the characters but not really involved with them. It was sort of like giving street directions to two strangers and then wishing them luck.