It’s Marky Mark and a heroic dog. There, see? You already know whether you want to see this film. Is there more to it? Ummm, not really. I mean, sure, there’s a plot about a stray dog following an Adventure Racing team around the Dominican Republic, but at heart, Arthur the King is just Marky Mark and the Glum Bunch plus special guest Snooping Dog. It’s almost entertaining.
First of all, Adventure Racing is an actual thing. And the Adventure Racing World Championships do happen. These are competitions for people who find triathlons a stroll in the park and have all the cultural sensitivity of your average Trump supporter. The latter is important because -if the film is to be believed- rules don’t quite exist in this world of competition. “Pick your own trail” is the diametric opposite of “leave only footprints, take only memories.” You know I’m right.
Michael Light (Mark Wahlberg) is an Adventure Racer. He is three years removed from his last race, which ended in something between a DQ and a revolt. Now, with his racing wife settled down and his young daughter in need of guidance, he cannot wait to abandon them for one last shot at niche glory. It’s not going to be easy; he’s pushing 40 and everybody thinks he’s a dick … mostly cuz he is a dick.
Still, Michael manages to collect enough sponsor money and a semi-elite team of himself, Simu Liu, Nathalie Emmanuel, and Ali Suliman. These four are going to spend an ugly month together in the Dominican Republic, a country which doesn’t care what trails you use, ever.
Had the film just been about Mike or Mike and his new roomies adventuring, it would have been a dog. It would have been very much in the vein of “The Amazing Race,” which works on levels that don’t generally include “super serious ultra-athletes.” However, this film is about an actual dog
, which kept it from being a figurative dog. Somewhere after a stage or two, Michael makes the mistake of feeding a stray, half-dead, gangrenous pooch, and, as a result, the poor mutt follows these guys all over Hispaniola.
I think they fudged Arthur’s back story – I mean, I doubt they were able to interview the subject’s homies directly. Still, the dog’s story is compelling. Stray mutt living on garbage kicked out of his territory by fiercer hounds (I also doubt they were available for interview), attaches itself to some idiots trying to bike/climb/hike/run and zipline 435 miles in five days.
On some level, you kinda have to love America. It is a place where our art is about an underdog who is literally a dog. And the difficulty in question occurs in the Dominican Republic, because “Whoa! Buddy! You can’t do this shit in the United States!” (Actually, the website shows there are plenty of American Adventure Races to be had in the US, because we have plenty of places where environmentalism takes a backseat to a dude with a GoPro.) Arthur the King is a better real-life story than film. The film constantly begs the question: “if a dog shits in the woods, will we give a crap about it?” Yet, I found the adventure compelling enough to care whether or not the poor beast lived to see the end credits. You win, movie. You made me care when I should not have.
There once lived an athlete named Mike
Who adventured on rock, foot, and bike
In the middle of a race
He found unknown grace
When a canine joined in on his hike
Rated PG-13, 90 Minutes
Director: Simon Cellan Jones
Writer: Michael Brandt, Mikael Lindnord
Genre: Your basic All-American film
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Love dogs? Love underdogs? Love literal underdogs? There ya go
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People who see no value in extreme sports
