Arthur And Mike, film review: Colin Firth and Emily Blunt are strangely cast as two lost souls

(15) Dante Ariola, 93 mins Starring: Colin Firth, Emily Blunt, Anne Heche

Colin Firth and Emily Blunt play quintessentially American roles (Michael Tackett/ Vertebra Newman Film Company)

Two years old now, and released in the US as Arthur Newman, this very offbeat, melancholic romance/road movie arrives in the UK without any of the fanfare that would normally greet a film starring Colin Firth and Emily Blunt.

They are strangely cast. Firth is a long way from The King's Speech as a middle-aged, Florida-based former golf professional who fakes his own death, Reggie Perrin-style, and assumes a new identity. Blunt is Charlotte, a disturbed young woman he meets en route to Indiana, where a wealthy businessman has promised him a job as a golf professional.

In its depiction of two lost souls confronting their demons, the film has moments of pathos and tenderness. Firth has a crumpled dignity as the Rabbit Angstrom-like American everyman, down on his luck. It is hard, though, to work out why two British stars were cast in such quintessentially American roles.