Arthur Newman (2012)

A story of a man who fakes his own death and assumes a new identity in order to escape his life, who then moves in with a woman who is also trying to leave her past behind.

Director:

Dante Ariola

Writer:

Becky Johnston

Stars:

Colin Firth, Emily Blunt, Anne Heche

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Colin Firth	...	Arthur Newman (Wallace Avery)
Emily Blunt	...	Mike (Charlotte Fitzgerald)
Lucas Hedges	...	Kevin Avery
Anne Heche	...	Mina Crawley
M. Emmet Walsh	...	Zazek
Kristin Lehman	...	Mary Alice Wells
Phillip Troy Linger	...	Fuller Wells
Devon Woods	...	Janie Wells
Sterling Beaumon	...	Grant Wells
Natalia Volkodaeva	...	Ludmila Hadley (as Natalie Volkodaeva)
Autumn Dial	...	Charyl
Anthony Reynolds	...	Park Ranger
Holden Hansen	...	Dying Man - Beauregard Tully
Ron Prather	...	Detective #1
Jason Benjamin	...	Cop

Storyline

Wallace Avery hates his job. His ex-wife and son hate him, and he's blown his one shot at living his dream. Not wanting to face all this, he stages his own death and buys himself a new identity as Arthur Newman. However, Arthur's road trip towards anew life is interrupted by the arrival of the beautiful but fragile Mike, who is also trying to leave her past behind. Drawn to one another, these two damaged souls begin to connect as they break into empty homes and take on the identities of the absent owners: elderly newlyweds, a high-roller and his Russian lady, among others. Through this process, Arthur and Mike discover that what they love most about each other are the identities they left at home, and their real journey, that of healing, begins.

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Plot Keywords:

two word title | missing person | motel room | motel | swimming pool | 

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Taglines:

If you don't have a life, get someone else's.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content, language and brief drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 June 2013 (Kuwait)

Also Known As:

Arthur Newman, Golf Pro

Filming Locations:

Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vertebra Films,Cross Creek Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

There wasn't much rehearsal process while filming, as Firth claims they had all had a preconception of what a scene was for.

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Goofs

The Watts Hospital shown at the end is in Durham, NC. However, it stopped being a hospital in 1976. Since 1980 it has been part of the NC School of Science and Mathematics.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Unemployment Official: Congratulations, Mr. Avery. Putting you in the system, you're good to go. So by next week.
Wallace Avery: I, I can't wait 'til next week, I have business prospects elsewhere.
Unemployment Official: Oh, good for you, sir. Are you going to work at another FedEx?

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Connections

Featured in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #21.132 (2013)

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Soundtracks

Better Than I
Written by Madison Bunting
Performed by Michele Seidman and Terry Nash
Courtesy of Michele and the Midnight Blues

User Reviews

Different, if not entirely unique

I watched Arthur Newman simply because I found it by accident. While it's not the best film I've seen, I do believe everyone did a credible job with very little material. Colin Firth and Emily Blunt are good, doing the best they could with the somewhat underdeveloped characters. However, I feel the characters are presented as such on purpose, to make of them what we personally will.

The film moves slowly, but is in no way boring. An experienced film buff would be fine with its pace and be relatively engaged in the story line as well.

Arthur Newman is not for a generic audience. It requires a specific taste in films to be enjoyed for what it is - a thought-provoking story