The new Mark Wahlberg movie 鈥� 鈥� is the cinematic version of an inspirational classroom poster. It means well and has something worthwhile to say, but for the most part, it鈥檚 also rather generic 鈥� an underdog story that hits the expected beats.
Wahlberg plays an adventure racer, Michael, who has yet to win a competition. We meet him one day into his 鈥渓ast shot鈥� race, stuck in the mud with his team and unable to finish. It is, he says, weak of them. Cut to three years later and he鈥檚 in his idea of suburban purgatory, working for his dad and living in an extraordinarily nice house with his beautiful, former adventure racer wife and their young daughter. She gave it all up to be a mom, but he can鈥檛 get over the fact that he never won.
鈥淩acers race,鈥� he explains. She caves almost immediately, likely tired of mopey Michael, and tells him to go find some sponsors. He鈥檚 like the male 鈥� maddeningly obsessed with proving his own greatness in a very niche sport.
It鈥檚 also based on a true story, that of racer Mikael Lindnord, and the book he wrote about the grueling endeavor 鈥淎rthur: The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home.鈥� Did I mention there was a dog involved? Well, there is, but the main novelty of 鈥淎rthur the King鈥� doesn鈥檛 even fully integrate into the story until almost 45 minutes in (the movie is only 90 minutes long). Director Simon Cellan Jones and his editor try to intersperse footage of the dog in his stray days on the streets of Santo Domingo, but the movie doesn鈥檛 feel like it鈥檚 even started until they get together.
And while I realize it鈥檚 a race, it all feels a little rushed and surface-level, lacking personality and distinctiveness without much to hang onto besides the travelogue shots of the Dominican Republic and a by-the-books score. The female characters are deficient too. Michael鈥檚 wife Helena (Juliet Rylance) is a 鈥減hone wife,鈥� waiting at home and always in a full face of makeup with her blond mermaid locks cascading down her shoulders whether she鈥檚 post-workout or going to sleep. She鈥檚 only ever on screen to be reading about Michael or talking to him.
Their daughter is cute and gets to do exactly three cute things, also only as they relate to her dad, and then disappear into the background to鈥lay quietly by herself, I guess. Nathalie Emmanuel at least gets to be part of the racing team, but her only distinguishing trait is being worried about her cancer-stricken father at home.
There is one rather extraordinary and tense sequence involving a broken zip line and our adventurers dangling with their bikes trying to get to the other line, but I鈥檓 not sure the adventure aspect really ever takes hold. Not even the 鈥渂rothers in arms鈥� banter between the teammates (including Ali Suliman and Simu Liu) is especially memorable or fun. You鈥檙e just going checkpoint to checkpoint on this 435-mile journey as Michael gets more and more attached to the dog and less and less invested in winning.
Somewhere along the way, Michael even starts caring about his teammates too. The IV line that he thought weak three years ago, he鈥檚 suddenly insisting for Leo (Liu), an Instagram famous racer who he was basically forced to recruit.
When the race ends the dog becomes even more central, and here is where the heartstrings are pulled (though it鈥檚 not exactly difficult to elicit emotions when the camera is pointed at a dog that might die). Michael says at some point that he鈥檚 never been a dog person or even had a pet, but somehow comes back to life in the company of this one. The real Michael started a foundation for animal welfare because of the experience.
Maybe the movie will direct some eyes toward the existence of the Arthur Foundation, but while the movie goes down easy enough it is, on the whole, a bit unsatisfying.
鈥淎rthur the King,鈥� a Lionsgate release in theaters Friday, is rated PG-13 the Motion Picture Association for 鈥渟ome strong language.鈥� Running time: 90 minutes. Two stars out of four.
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
