Arthur's Whisky

Not sure I understand the harshness of many of these reviews. Not every movie has to be life and death. This is just a simple little movie, telling a little simple story about three women...their dreams....their hopes ...their disappointments....and maybe a second chance. This is a movie to just take a breath...slow down ...and just watch three exceptionally fine actresses tell a story. No need to tear it apart and critique it. There is no need to. How about simply spending a nice quiet hour and a half enjoying a nice story. This is that kind of movie. These are those type of actresses. Just enjoy the movie.

First off, the title used the word "whisky", which implies Scotland. However it was filmed in smaller communities just outside London. (Whiteley Village, Hersham, Walton-on-Thames, UK)

The story focuses on three old friends, now all in their 70s, experiencing all the things people that age normally do. One of the ladies is married to Arthur and when he dies the friends decide to venture into his small shack out back. Among the things they find, a few small bottles of his homemade whisky. Bravely, they decide to try it.

Magically, each of them wakes up to find that they are 20-ish versions of themselves. After suitable emotions of panic, they realize it must have been the whisky. But they also find out its effect is finite, after about 6 hours they revert to their 70-something selves.

(As a science nerd, I found myself wishing one of them would experiment, starting with very small doses, to see how much they really had to consume. Sadly, they did not do that.)

Anyway, after watching the trailer I expected very little from this movie. It is quite silly in places but overall I enjoyed it quite a bit. Including their foray to visit a bucket list location, Las Vegas. I was entertained, maybe because I too am in my 70s.

If you want a "message" it is to accept and appreciate yourself, just the way you are.

It was also a bonus to see a couple of old singers in the cast. Lulu, of course, was a popular singer in the 1960s, known especially for "To Sir With Love." And we also are able to see Boy George, now in his 60s.

At home, streaming on Prime. A bit better than its rating would suggest.

Wow, don't judge this one by its rating folks. I don't know if a lot of people are just ageist or sexist or what, but this movie is by no means as bad as the 1 or 2 star ratings would suggest. It's very humble and genuinely charming. The three leads have fun, make scenes that would be otherwise stale beautiful and enjoyable and overall I laughed, I cried, and got way more than I thought I was in store for. It's plot is paper thin and maybe that doesn't set right with a lot of people but it doesn't need an overly glamorous string of intricate plot outlines to be a good and gentle movie. This won't win any Oscars or Golden Globes, but damn it was it enjoyable, and I just love Diane Keaton. Thumbs up!

Arthur's Whisky (2024) is a mess of movie despite the cast. Badly written and directed and with that annoying non-stop Disney pixie music.

Yet another story where three old friends meet at a funeral (apparently older women only meet at funerals, at school reunions, or when they go on road trips) to bury Joan's eccentric husband. Joan (Patricia Hodge) has never been especially happy. There's also Linda (Diane Keaton) and Susan (Lulu) who are also alone. When they decide to clean out the husband's shed (where he invented things) they come upon a bottle of whisky and of course quickly drink it.

The plot starts way to fast. We have no real idea who these women are. So with virtually no backstory, we learn that the whisky turns them into 20-year-olds. Off to the clubs we go. But the transformation only lasts 6 hours.

From there on we get a bunch of disjointed narratives about wasted lives and lost youth and then we end up in Vegas at a Boy George drag show. Nothing flows. Nothing makes much sense. We never know who these women are except at the end when the Hodge character meets up with an old friend (Hayley Mills).

Wasted talent in a film that was never developed.

A movie with a strong Scottish connection turning out to be as bad as this......oh how that pains me. Let's put it this way......you have a scale for whisky related movies stretching from 0 to 100. The "100" spot is occupied by the original Whisky Galore. The "0" spot will now forever be occupied by Arthur's Whisky. Lord only knows what the makers wee aiming for, but if it wasn't a contender for the most vapid and banal movie of the 21st century, then they failed miserably.

A decent payday could be the only reason a small group of fairly accomplished actors would agree to put their names to this tripe. The one upside is that the "elixir of life" subject matter will never extend itself to this movie, and in a month or two, it will have hauled itself off into a corner to die peacefully (hopefully).

My review contains no spoilers, but this movie is almost guaranteed to spoil the day of anyone unfortunate enough to give it 90 minutes of their valuable time.

A truly appalling piece of rubbish.