Arthur’s Whisky (2024)

Arthur’s Whisky Review

Once you’ve been lured in by the sinfully beautiful all-star cast of veteran actresses, Arthur’s Whiskey is disappointing. It will put you off alcohol whisky especially for a long time.

The plot about three 70-plus friends who giggle their way through swigs of whiskey that makes them young again lacks the punch or bite of other body-change classics like “Prelude to a Kiss,” “Big” or even “Vice Versa.” After those movies, this one just feels so done and done again that it could be used as a sleep aid for the septuagenarian.

It’s sad to see timeless figures like Diane Keaton and Lulu along with another reliable vet, Patricia Hodge on what should have been a girls’ night out. But we’re not interested because we grew up watching these legends in real life when they were at their peak. Now they’re reduced to a ledge-end giggle gaggle trying to make something out of their fading winter.

Nothing is more embarrassing than watching veterans try to act like 20-somethings within a screenplay that sanctions age-inappropriate behavior. Films about age reduction assume every aging woman wants to scream and squeal, wear short dresses, and go places where she isn’t welcome including loud clubs filled with frowning ex-husbands.

This stereo-typical ‘tapping’ leads to drinking episodes and binges, clubbing and whooping it until the milk vans come home. The oldies if I may fondly call them that bring little relief to a script that has no weight whatsoever from the word go. In fact, actors playing young versions of Kate Winslet, Lulu and Patricia Hodge (Esme Lonsdale as young Joan; Genevieve Gaunt as young Linda, Hannah Howland as young Susan) come off better.

By the time our three heroines drag themselves to Las Vegas with Boy George on stage to compound the theme of age for one more blowout, I wasn’t even embarrassed for them anymore. To be honest, I stopped caring about these fun-loving ladies the minute they said hello.

Between the three likable leads (Hodge, Keaton, and Lulu) there is a lot of chemistry, which could be used to spice up an ordinary story. When watching Arthur’s Whisky, one can’t help but feel a sense of warmth, camaraderie, and playfulness that seems genuine and makes you think if these actors became friends behind the scenes in the same way. Their younger versions also share this energy and do an excellent job stepping into quite established shoes; especially Genevieve Gaunt who plays young Keaton she has got her gestures down pat (no doubt having raided her back catalogue for inspiration).

Elsewhere Adil Ray (Citizen Khan) shines as Arthur’s charming love interest among others like Boy George or Hayley Mills (The Parent Trap) popping up along Lawrence Chaney from RuPaul’s Drag Race UK fame. There are certainly some generic depictions of women ageing which might make eyes roll talking about wrinkles, saggy breasts or difficulties rising from chairs etc., but fortunately enough other things going on here to let it pass by and just enjoy what is ultimately a heart-warming funny story about friendship at any stage of life.

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