‘Arthur the King’ needed to go to the dog sooner

It’s rare in a film when the title character really doesn’t have much to do with the story until the third act. If “Arthur the King” director Simon Cellan Jones had delayed the arrival of the starring pooch much longer, the film could have been called “Waiting for the Furry Godot.”

Fortunately for the director, the dog has enough personality to give the production some bite. It is just that the bark needed a little more work.

“Arthur the King” is based on the story of professional adventure racer Michael Light (Mark Wahlberg). At the beginning of a 10-day, 435-mile race, Light feeds a stray dog a meatball. The team members are surprised to meet up with the dog again 200 miles into the race.

Light and the dog – he names Arthur because he gets to eat like a king – need each other. The 20-year veteran of racing has reached the end of his career and desperately needs a win. The dog is equally broken, having been the recipient of horrible abuse.

Arthur becomes such a part of the team that the fate of at least one of the lives of the team members and the result of the entire race are impacted by him. That’s why the final act resonates with such strong emotion because when both man and beast are at the breaking point, only a strong heart will save them.

The dog does more than help the racing team. Without the four-legged sidekick, “Arthur the King” would have been a very formulaic sports film. It has the broken-down athlete who just wants one last chance at glory. There are moments when it looks like there is no hope of continuing. And, the ending doesn’t completely fall into the trite trap but it gets close.

What ends up being the biggest problem is how the film is being promoted as being based on a true story. Michael is a Swede while Wahlberg is very American. The actual Adventure Racing World Championship where man and dog bonded was in Ecuador, but the film version takes place in the Dominican Republic.

A series of photos of the real dog and Light suggest that a major part of the finale was changed for more emotional weight. Even the track record for Light has been changed as he did win a race during his career unlike the winless film version.

None of these changes are criminal but create a sense of disillusionment with the story. There should be a point where a film can’t be promoted as being based on a true story but should be identified as being vaguely based on actual events.

Wahlberg is neither bad nor good as Light. He methodically deals with every situation such as leaving his wife (Juliet Rylance) for weeks while he makes his way through the jungle.  Since there was no big rush to get Arthur in the picture, Jones should have used more scenes early in the film to show the strength and support Light got from his wife.

The place where Wahlberg comes up the shortest is the final moments of the race. He must make a choice between two very serious outcomes, but his approach is almost like flipping a coin.

The lack of sparks from Wahlberg is the product of the “Arthur the King” script writers. They were content with making the members of the team very stereotypical instead of making them come across as human. Simu Liu doesn’t play his social media-obsessed character with enough egotism and the wounded warrior played by Suliman is just along for the run.

Closest to being a three-dimensional character is Nathalie Emmanuel’s portrayal of a racing legend’s daughter. Her place in the race has some emotional punch but instead of going deep with that, Jones just shows more scenes of running.

Arthur comes to the rescue one last time. The ill health of the dog is constantly spotlighted leading to a very emotional moment. No spoilers on how it ends up but having a tissue handy either way is advised. That emotional approach should have arrived a lot earlier.

Movie review

Arthur the King

Grade: B-

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Juliet Rylance, Simu Liu, Nathalie Emmanuel, Ali Suliman.

Director: Simon Cellan Jones

Rated: PG-13 for strong language

Running time: 90 minutes.

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