Arthur (Russell Brand) is the spoiled heir to Bach Worldwide, a very successful trading company.  Much to his mother’s dismay and embarrassment, he finds himself and his drunken escapades in all the newspapers.  He’s not out of control, he has a savant-ish gift for avoiding death…with fun.

Bach Worldwide has been run by a Bach, and Arthur’s behavior causes concern for the company’s future.  To reassure Bach’s investors, Arthur must marry Susan, one of the company’s most promising executives.  The problem is, he despises Susan.  If he refuses, he will lose access to the millions of monies, and the lifestyle to which he is accustomed.  He has no choice but to go along with his mother’s scheme.

Hobson (Helen Mirren) is Arthur’s nanny.  Though she acts like he has been nothing but a bother his entire life, she really does care and tries to guide him.  She is put in a tough position when he meets and starts falling for Naomi (Greta Gerwig), even though he is engaged.  He must decide which life he wants to lead; the life of luxury, excess, in a loveless marriage or poor and with the woman he’s falling for.

With all the previews I had seen, I was really looking forward to this movie.  My fear was that I had already seen all the funny parts.  Fortunately, my fears were allayed.  I laughed almost the entire movie.  Russell Brand was hilarious as the specific British pervert.  And Helen Mirren surprised me with her comedic performance as his understated, snarky caregiver.

“How did I see this?” you ask.  It doesn’t open until Friday.  Elementary, my dear.  I got passes to a promotional screening.  The line was crazy long, as I was expecting.  Also, as expected, the process to get through the line was, well, a cluster.  They never seem to have these things organized very well.  Essentially, I have two choices to remedy this: 1. Become a promo screening organizer (boring) or 2. Get press reviewing credentials.  (Anyone got any connections to help with #2?  Anyone?)

Either way, it was worth the wait.  Arthur was as funny as I had built it up to be in my mind.