What does it take to compete in the World Adventure Racing Championship, essentially an endurance race across 700 km of the Dominican Republic, completed in a little over five days?
Michael (Wahlberg) and his team, Leo (Liu), Olivia (Emmanuel) and Chiki (Suliman), know the stakes and sacrifices required, and the dollars. What they don’t account for is the stray dog who would become part of their journey.
This film, packing a lot into its 107 minutes, tries to be both about the dog and the chase – in a way that does justice to neither. Barring one real adrenaline-pumping scene where Michael and Olivia hang from a single harness off a zipline, which holds both their weights and those of their mountain bikes, the film suggests rather than really shows the torture their bodies are being put through.
Arthur creeps up on them quietly and doggedly, his yearning eyes hidden in a mess of hair, which also covers his many wounds, hard to look away from.
But even after he joins our racers, Arthur remains a sideshow – till he suddenly isn’t.
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Meanwhile, the film also tries to capture Michael’s own arc, from being a self-centred, even selfish, racer who landed his team in trouble the last time they participated in the same competition; to a man learning to be a father but still restless for the glory which eluded him; to finally a leader who realises that it is as important to win some races, as allow yourselves to lose others.
Arthur is an integral part to that growing up, and when the film does hit its high notes towards the end, you feel a tear hanging at the edge of your eyes.
But, Arthur the King is not about that, notwithstanding both the film’s title and that of the book it is based on (Arthur – The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home), which deals with the real-life story of Swedish adventurer Mikael Lindnord and his dog who completed their famous race together in 2014 in Ecuador.
Michael is an American, the setting has been changed to the Dominican Republic, and the year is 2018. There is really no reason why, barring that the dog may have the bark it needs, but it must also have Hollywood bite.
Arthur the King movie director: Simon Cellan Jones
Arthur the King movie cast: Mark Wahlberg, Simu Liu, Nathalie Emmanuel, Ali Suliman, Juliet Rylance
Arthur the King movie rating: 2.5 stars
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