Canine joins adventure racers, rides into hearts
Move over Lionel Messi — there’s a new canine thespian in town. Ukai, the Australian shepherd/ border collie/ bouvier mix who stars opposite Mark Wahlberg in “Arthur the King,” undertakes a performance that is more physically rigorous, if not dramatically suspenseful, than the one delivered by the French border collie who appeared in the Oscar-winning film “Anatomy of a Fall.”
But dog movies, and dogs in movies, aren’t just having a moment, they’ve been an important part of cinema since the silent era — and an easy hack to access the audience’s heartstrings.
Not that Arthur’s tale needed much hacking to start with. This inspirational film is based on a true story, originally a quirky human interest sports news item about an Ecuadorian stray dog who bonded with a team of Swedish adventure racers in the middle of a grueling six-day trek, following them to the finish line and eventually back to Sweden with racer Mikael Lindnord. The story became a media sensation, spawning a memoir and other books by Lindnord, and a short ESPN documentary.
Lindnord’s memoir, “Arthur:
The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home,” serves as the basis for “Arthur the King,” adapted by screenwriter Michael Brandt and directed by Simon Cellan Jones, who also directed Wahlberg in “The Family Plan.”
This story of perseverance, suffering and salvation though physical challenges is right in Wahlberg’s wheelhouse. The star is a deeply devout Catholic, devoted to a prayer and exercise routine that regularly starts around 3 a.m. His 2022 film “Father Stu,” in which he plays a Catholic priest who survives a motorcycle accident and is left disabled by a degenerative muscle disease, features a story of spiritual salvation through physical suffering that’s a darker side of the themes in “Arthur the King.” Nevertheless, the amount of time his character, Michael Light, extols the virtues of suffering while racing in the film is a clue that this is the kind
of material Wahlberg thrills to.
Transposing the setting from Sweden to Colorado, and the race from Ecuador to the Dominican Republic (where the film was shot), Wahlberg stars as a washed-up adventure racer who has struggled in the past with being a team player.
With one last chance to prove himself, he puts together a team for the adventure racing world championships, including an old rival, Chik (Ali Suliman), a new star, Olivia (Nathalie Emmanuel) and an estranged teammate-turned-influencer, Leo (Simu Liu). Together they’ll have to run, hike, bike, climb and kayak their way over hundreds of miles of rough terrain over the course of several days to the finish line.
Intercut with the race prep is the plight of a stray pup who is starved and wounded living on the streets. When Michael tosses him a meatball during a race transition, the dog starts following the team through jungle downpours, river crossings and ocean paddles, serving as both motivator and mascot. He even has his own “Lassie” moments, communicating danger to the team. They dub him Arthur for his stoic, regal demeanor.
It’s fairly standard, and often treacly heartwarming dog fare, calling to mind other adventurous pups in TV and film, like the aforementioned Lassie, Benji and Rin Tin Tin, but edged up with an adventure sports milieu. If you’re a dog person, it will be impossible to resist the tale of Arthur and his knights of extreme sports.