REVIEW: Though generic, ‘Arthur the King’ has heart to win one over

I’m a simple man. I see a movie about a dog, and I usually leave the auditorium happy. It holds true once again.

While the film is named after a good boy named Arthur, though, it actually centers on an adventure racer named Michael Light (Mark Wahlberg). Michael has had several races in his career and despite many top 10 finishes, he’s never come in first. His last attempt in fact was so bad that he left the sport.

Still feeling he has something in the tank a few years later, though, he decides to give adventure racing one last shot in the Dominican Republic with a four-man team. As they go on their race, they meet a stray dog tagging along their journey, and they all come to love the canine.

“Arthur the King” is a film that doesn’t quite reach the status of sports movie royalty, but it works as a lean, feel-good matinee flick. It’s well paced enough, getting to the race fairly quickly after a brief recruiting period and from there dramatizing a variety of athletic challenges.

It provides adequate entertainment, and then the dog shows up and adds to the experience. Look, dogs are cute, and the dog in this movie is adorable and inspiring. It’s a simple formula that gets a bit hokey at times, but it’s also effective.

Seeing the team be somewhat indifferent about the dog as they’re mainly focused on winning but eventually coming around to care for Arthur is endearing to watch. It’s a good mix of a team bonding while still having the race against the clock feeling with the characters wanting to come in first.

The film isn’t without its flaws, though. For example, some of the dialogue, especially in the first half, is rough. There’s some clumsy exposition, such as a character revealing their father has cancer in a rather abrupt way. The banter between Michael and his teammate/rival Leo (Simu Liu) isn’t the best either.

That said, Wahlberg is solid on screen in the role of the rugged racer. Wahlberg seems to be in the right place with sports movies, giving good performances in 2006’s Invincible” as a long-shot NFL player and in 2010’s drama “The Fighter” as an underdog boxer.

Fittingly, he’s good as the racer with something to prove. Wahlberg may not have the most range, but he’s not bad when portraying a tough but caring guy, which is exactly what was needed for the protagonist in “Arthur the King.” He captures the character’s physical and emotional will to compete, while also showing compassion for the canine and his family.

Even though the writing isn’t the strongest, the side characters aren’t too bad either. They are all fairly generic, but the performers make the most out of the material, and watching them rally around the dog is good to watch. See how much heavy lifting the dog is doing?

The one small problem with the dog in the film was a reaction shot in the third act that was too over the top. However, for the most part, the film looks fine for a sports flick, and it was shot on location in the Dominican Republic in the elements, which is a plus.

Overall, it’s a fairly average sports movie, but Wahlberg being right for the role and the heartwarming journey of Arthur makes this a good time. 3.35 out of 5.