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Aldous Snow does not make an appearance in the remake of 1980s “Arthur” starring Russell Brand, yet his depiction of the wealthy aristocrat is not far off from his rock star persona in 2008’s “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and last year’s “Get Him to the Greek.”

 

Director Jason Winer’s remake of the Dudley Moore classic casts British favorites Russell Brand as spoiled Arthur Bach and Oscar-winning Helen Mirren as Hobson, Arthur’s stern but loving nanny.

 

Brand nails the alcoholic jokester character. He is so great at portraying Bach in the film, but falls short on delivering the truly emotional performance that Moore perfected three decades ago.

 

Though we all know Brand is a hilarious comedian, as he proved with his Aldous Snow persona, he relies too heavily on his comedy when he should be concentrating on perfecting his more serious lines.

Maybe it is too hard to take Brand seriously because he is such a goofball in real life.

 

Or, maybe it is just hard to look past scenes where the actor is running through the streets of New York City in his underwear and forcing a legend such as Mirren to say, “Wash your winkie,” while donning a Darth Vader mask.

 

It is difficult to measure up to Dudley Moore’s memorable Arthur, yet Brand does not do the character complete injustice. Mirren’s performance more than measures up to John Gielgud’s Hobson, and hers may be the only believable performance of the entire film.

 

Jennifer Garner does well as Susan, a psycho- obsessed daddy’s girl who Arthur is being forced to marry in order to keep his zillionaire inheritance.

 

Greta Gerwig is also bright and refreshing as Naomi, Arthur’s true love interest.

 

Although it is difficult for any remake to top its original, Brand is both amusing and endearing as Arthur, and he never fails to stir up a good laugh.