Arthur Newman

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Yet another holdout from last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, Arthur Newman, based on a script from screenwriting veteran Becky Johnston (The Prince of Tides, Seven Years in Tibet) and unassuming direction from Dante Ariola (making his feature debut), follows an ordinary man (Colin Firth) who fakes his own death and re-imagines himself as a golf pro, but along the way, he encounters a woman (Emily Blunt) who also seeks to escape her past, and the two of them find that they can’t outrun their true selves. The film settles into a bit of a humorous groove after the pair hooks up, but it can’t quite overcome the threat of the melodramatic reality and the conventionality of the climax that’s always just up the road. Now open at Kenwood Theatre. (R) Grade: C-