Prime Time: Arthur The King (2024)

Based on the true story of an adventure racer who ended up with an extra member in his team, a dog he named Arthur, this is exactly the kind of film you expect it to be, although it has the added bonus of Mark Wahlberg in the lead role constantly making you think about the wonderful "Wahlberg talks to animals" sketch from SNL.

Wahlberg is Michael Light, a man who has gone his entire adventure racing career without ever getting a gold medal. In fact, his last attempt was quite the disaster, based on the fact that he pushed his team too hard without listening to the advice of others. Some years have passed since then though, and Michael wants one last shot at glory. He wants to put together a team, he needs sponsors, and he wants a win. He gets a tentative sponsor, but they insist that his team includes his old team member, Leo (Simu Liu), someone who has made the most of social media and viral marketing. His other choices end up being Chik (Ali Suliman), a man who was dropped from his last team due to a knee injury, and Olivia (Nathalie Emmanuel), a climber not necessarily wanting to make that her main discipline, but urged that way by her successful father. The race is tough, the team need to work together to overcome the usual obstacles (in the environment and in their own different approaches), but things start to improve when a stray dog starts to accompany them on their gruelling journey.

Based on the book by Mikael Lindnord, this has a screenplay by Michael Brandt (who has had huge success with a number of TV projects in recent years) and is directed by Simon Cellan Jones (who has a background in TV before a more recent move into movies, and specifically Wahlberg movies). Both do competent work, and they certainly convey the impressive distance and scale of the challenge facing the racing teams in the movie. There's one vertiginous set-piece, but it's otherwise pretty grounded and standard stuff, with those involved quite rightly banking on viewers being won over by the bond developed with the dog at the centre of the story.

Wahlberg does his usual Wahlberg stuff, although there are a couple of pleasantly surprising moments here that have his character admitting to being wearied and sometimes not the person who knows best in every situation, and Liu does a good job of keeping up alongside him and explaining how they can still do well enough for themselves even if a win evades them. Emmanuel is convincing in her part, as is Suliman, and they certainly do a great job as separate elements who can work together as an efficient and determined team. I was surprised by how much of the focus stayed on the team, thinking that Arthur would join them and have his impact noticed sooner, but, never fear, the dog (played by a canine named Ukai) is certainly made to feel like the key cast member he is when he gets more directly involved in the storyline.

Very predictable, but that's not a big deal when you're watching a true story in movie form, and surprisingly downbeat in one or two scenes, Arthur The King does enough to make it a decent enough choice for those wanting something simple and ultimately satisfying. I could rattle off a number of other "talented animal bonds with humans" movies that I prefer, but this was far from a terrible way to spend part of my evening.

6/10

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