By Marc S. Sanders
I cannot stand to watch dogs in peril. It guts me right in the feels and stays with me long after. I only saw the movie Single White Female once, when it was in theaters, and I still remember that puppy’s horrifying demise. Terrible. Just awful.
On the other hand, when a dog is the companion or the factor of good fortune needed for the cast of human characters, I’m going to be won over. Arthur The King has a shaggy mutt that you absolutely fall in love with, but I don’t think its all schmaltz, because the dog who portrays the title character is not the only storyline to follow.
Mark Wahlberg is Michael, who leads a team of four endurance adventurer racers. He has the odds stacked against him. He’s a well-known racer within the circuit but not for the right reasons. The teams he’s led usually place in the top ten at the finish line, but Michael has never made it to first place. Not once. On social media, he’s mocked as the guy who comes up short. His father (Paul Guilfoyle) is not very encouraging either. As well, the window of opportunity to show himself as a champion is dwindling as he’s getting up in years. Still, Michael is confident he has one more race left in him, but he’s granted very little sponsorship money and given a lot less time to train and prepare than he and his team are accustomed to.
Joining Michael in the competition is Olivia (Nathalie Emmanuel) who is an expert climber on any terrain. She is reluctantly joining the team at the urging of her terminally ill father. There’s also Chik (Ali Suliman) who serves as the navigator during the race looking for alternative routes and detours off the path that will put the team ahead of others. Lastly, there is Leo (Simu Liu). He is the vain Instagram celebrity with thousands of followers and a huge chip on his shoulder that tests Michael’s instincts because Leo has usually been right in the past. Michael always made the foolhardy option to ignore Leo’s concerns and thus got stuck in the mud, missing another first-place opportunity.
The homeless, neglected dog in the picture initially follows a parallel story within the streets of the Dominican Republic. Living off scraps with damp, dirty fur, he roams from place to place, being chased and bullied by other alley dogs.
Director Simon Cellan Jones goes for a documentary approach to the endurance racing. Bylines and GPS maps cut into the picture showing the team’s progress and where they stand in the rankings. Sometimes there are voiceover commentaries. It’s efficient information that allows the audience to keep up with the team’s progress as the flow of the film moves at a brisk pace.
We see the team of four run, bike, kayak, climb, stop for breaks, and debate their next options. Challenges arrive where a large rock must be climbed. Heavy rain weighs upon their progress. Snakes are encountered. Swamp conditions must be overcome. A thrilling zip line sequence will have you sitting up in your chair. The footage in this scene is amazing to look at from the enormous height over a bottomless jungle chasm. It’s certainly dramatic. Because the film does not rely on the standard suspense music you might find in other sports films, it performs like a documentary with the director’s well positioned camera work and the unexpected reactions of the cast.
At a rest stop the dog captures Michael’s attention. Some scritches and scratches along with a few meatball treats and then the team must move on. However, the dog seemingly turns up within the dense jungle terrain having followed their trajectory. Michael can’t help but be fascinated by the stamina of this animal, and thus a connection is made. Shortly thereafter, Olivia, Chik and even Leo warms up to the fifth team member.
The race goes on. Michael’s wife and daughter follow the team’s progress from home. Dehydration sets in. A twisted knee interferes. It’s all standard. Yet, it’s hard not to get caught up in this film.
If you have never been a pet owner, it might be hard to truly relate how an animal can change a person. It might sound cliché but there’s really no way to describe how unconditional a dog’s love can be, and Arthur The King certainly demonstrates that kind of affection. If that is still not enough for you to swallow, then consider that this film is based on a true story.
There was a dog named Arthur The King who defied the odds to keep up with an endurance racer named Mikael Lindnord, thereby inspiring the team to push forward and strive to win. The inspiration of the real-life Arthur established The Arthur Foundation whose ongoing mission is to raise funds to provide resources to help dogs around the world receive better care.
Arthur The King might have mapped out its story as soon as the movie began, but that does not mean it is devoid of genuine emotion. This film possesses a yearning for adventure and a need to defy doubt and reach for victory while never losing sight of what could be more valuable than a championship. The main character starts out as a confident endurance racer. Yet, he’s a new kind of racer with an eye-opening perspective when he meets Arthur The King.
2 UNPAID MOVIE CRITICS!!!! 