Genre: Drama/Comedy
Director: Paul Feig
Writer: Rosie JoLove
Based on the novel by Andrew Sean Greer
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Andy Garcia, Helen Mirren, Antonio Banderas, Zachary Quinto, Tina Fey, Diego Boneta, Andrew Scott, Jay Hernandez, Peter Gallagher, Neil Casey, August Diehl
Plot: Arthur Less (Ewan McGregor) is in the lobby of a New York hotel and scheduled to interview a successful science fiction writer named H.H.H. Mandern (Neil Casey), which gets awkward when Aruther jokes how the name sounds like the wrestler if he chose to write Game Of Thrones knock-offs. Mandern upsettingly stares at Arthur, which he jokes Mandern must hate wrestling.
In recent years, Less is a literary writer whose career has been suffering almost desperate. New York’s Arthur’s first stop on an international trip in which he plans to visit countries worldwide. Carlos (Andy Garcia), Arthur’s friend/literary rival, and Arthur reside in San Francisco. Things are tense since Arthur began dating Carlos’ son, Federico “Freddy” Pelu (Diego Boneta), who's 20 years younger than him. They've dated for nine years, but the relationship is casual. Freddy became a high school English teacher and eventually ended their relationship after becoming engaged to be married to someone named Tom Dennis. Less thinks fits Freddy's wanna-be suburban lifestyle.
A few months after the break-up, Arthur received an invitation to Freddy and Tom’s wedding. Arthur couldn't decide if it'd be more awarding to attend the wedding, which he hopes has an open bar, or to remain absent, which he looks forward to being reminded of for the remaining of his life. He looks at a stack of invitations he'd received to various events in other countries. Instead of going to the wedding, Arthur decided he'd accept all invitations as an excuse. He'd first go to New York City to interview Mandern. Arthur also planned to meet with his publisher to ask whether they accepted his latest novel for publication. He'd then attend a literary conference in Mexico City and go to Turin, Italy, where the translation of his book Dark Matter got nominated for a literary award. He'd then go to Berlin to teach a university course, then to Morocco, India, and Japan for tourist activities before finally returning home.
An organizer of the Mandern event asks Less what he's going to wear. Less jokes that he's just going to wear an "I LUV NYC" shirt and khakis. He laughs, but the organizer stares at him. He then says he'll wear his blue suit. The narration notes that it's Less’s signature suit, which makes him feel more like himself. Outside the hotel, Arthur encounters a man he doesn’t recognize at first, but he realizes it's an ex-lover of his, Howard (Peter Gallagher). Howard looks so much older now. Arthur suddenly becomes conscious of his age.
Back in the day, Arthur associated with Robert Brownburn (Christopher Plummer) and the Russian River School group of writers in San Francisco. Arthur’s first novel, Kalipso, was a retelling of the Calypso story from Homer’s Odyssey featuring a homosexual soldier in WWII. The novel was a success, but Arthur’s subsequent books weren't very successful. Arthur & Howard goes to the hotel bar and wistfully talks about how the age differences between himself, Howard, and Freddy were the fundamental factors in ending those two great loves. Arthur also admits his meeting with his publisher, who decided not to publish his newest novel, entitled Swift. After Howard wishes him luck and leaves, Arthur chunks his drink then goes to do his interview with Mandern.
Arthur arrives in Mexico City for a literary conference dedicated to Robert Brownburn’s work. Robert himself isn’t scheduled to be in attendance. At the airport, Arthur’s greeted by a man named Arturo (Jay Hernandez), assigned as Arthur’s guide. Arthur notes they in different languages have the same name. Arturo’s disposition is quite the opposite of Arthur’s more easygoing comportment. Arthur tells Arturo that he’s been scheduled to speak at the conference because of his relationship with Robert. Arturo couldn't care even if Selena make out with him if he did. Arthur remarks that'd be weird since Selena's died.
At the hotel, Arthur meets the organizer of the convention. Arthur says that he’s never been to Mexico before, which is a lie.
Once, in his mid-twenties, he took a secret romantic trip to Mexico with Robert. Robert hadn't told his wife about his relationship with Arthur when this trip took place. So Arthur still keeps the trip a secret. The organizer asks Arthur, “What's it like to live with genius?” referring to Robert, and Arthur's unsure how to respond. Internally, he recalls a ring that Robert had given him as a symbol of their relationship. He almost lost it once at a produce market, another at a strip club. One day, Arthur realized that his relationship with Robert was most likely going to end quickly because of Robert's wife.
Arthur goes back to the hotel, and Arturo informs him that Arthur's scheduled to discuss alongside Robert’s ex-wife, Marian Brownburn, which makes Arthur choke on his Fiji water. Arthur panics because Robert divorced his wife after ending the relationship with Arthur. Arthur panics, as he doesn't wish “to be impaneled before the world besides the woman he's wronged." However, the next day, Arturo informs Arthur that Marian couldn't come to the festival, as she broke her hip during a fall. Arthur is relieved that she isn't there. Arturo thinks that's inappropriate and that Arthur hates old women. Quickly, Arthur voices his concerns about her health. Arturo agrees since he thinks Marian's excellent.
Arthur recalls the first time he met Marian (Helen Mirren). Marian’s twenty-five and hadn't yet met Robert. He's on a beach in San Francisco, and she started a conversation with him. She's kind and charming. She then asked Arthur to go into the water and help her husband, who wasn't nearly as strong a swimmer as he believed. That's when Arthur first met Robert.
Arriving in Turin, Italy, Arthur recalls the last time he was in Italy. He's there with Robert, who'd accepted an invitation to read at a literary festival. Once there, they discovered that the reading's to take place in the Roman Forum’s ruins. Robert and Arthur were both dazzled and amazed by the experience.
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Arthur arrives at the hotel in Turin and recalls the last time he's nominated for a prize; it was the Wilde and Stein Literary Laurels, a distinction awarded to LGBT authors. Kalipso had been chosen, but Arthur didn't win, resulting in him overdrinking and making an ass of himself. One of the speakers at the event, writer Finley Dwyer (Andrew Scott), gave implicit public criticism of Kalipso, saying that books in which LGBT characters only suffer and experience no triumph are harmful to LGBT literature. Arthur jokingly loves a straight man's opinions about a gay man's struggles. Finley starts a fight over being embarrassed.
Arthur meets the other finalists who’ve been nominated for the literary prize in Turin. They’re a highly eclectic group of writers, along with confident and self-possessed.
Recalling when Robert won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, Robert, Arthur, and the rest of the Russian River School celebrated. One of the RRS members, Stella, warned Arthur that winning such an award doomed one to a life of giving lectures but never producing any new work. Arthur jokes he'll just have to stay current for the younglings then. Robert later told him that the award didn’t mean anything because formal accolades weren’t the same as love. Arthur’s distracted and disinterested during the award ceremony in Turin, but he wins the award to his surprise, which results in a broken speech.
Arthur arrives in Berlin. He phones the German publishing company that has published his books’ German translations; he reports an error in one of their printings. Despite Arthur’s belief in being fluent in German, the phone call demonstrates that his German isn't perfect as Arthur finds out he said he wishes a happy birthday and how he's a sleepy man who dreams of whales.
He begins teaching a course on literature and writing at Liberated University in Berlin. His contact point at the university is a German man named Bastian (August Diehl). He and Arthur begin an affair together. Bastian tells Arthur that the students refer to Arthur as Peter Pan because his German's so bad that it sounds like a confused child.
The university schedules Arthur to give a literary reading at a nightclub, which Arthur's wary of the proposition. He’s surprised to see that the nightclub patrons are very attentive. Arthur follows other readers in the evening. While he reads, several audience members collapse. The event organizer assures Arthur that they're just dehydrated. Still, Arthur begins to believe that he’s been boring his students with his terrible German, his lack of teaching and his presentational skills.
Later, Arthur realizes that it's the day of Freddy’s wedding, and due to the time zone difference, Freddy’s wedding's probably occurring at about the same time as the nightclub reading. To push the thought from his mind, Arthur goes to bed with Bastian that night. In the morning, he tries to call Freddy before the next stop of his trip, but Carlos picks up, telling him, “It’s over. Freddy Pelu's married”.
Leaving Germany to go to Morocco, there’s a miscommunication during his layover in Paris, which results in him accepting a Morocco flight departing at midnight.
Deciding to fill the time by walking around Paris, Arthur recalls when he was last in Paris. It’s on a trip with Freddy before the end of their relationship. Freddy finds Arthur's lack of fun during the journey, which results in them fighting over Arthur's willingness to compromise or even try for another person. Arthur shrugs it off, which makes Freddy ask why Arthur is always distant. Arthur just leaves Freddy alone in the room, sobbing.
At the dinner party, Arthur encounters Finley Dwyer on the porch. They converse as Dwyer says that Arthur’s a pariah in the LGBT literary community because he is “a bad gay.” Finley says that members of the LGBT academic community don’t like that Arthur’s gay protagonists all face nothing but suffering without triumphal redemption. Arthur finds it amazing that a self-centered jackass without a care in the world can talk about such significant issues. To twist the knife further, Finley notes that's why Arthur will remain alone cause even listening to other's opinions are a joke to him. Finley leaves Arthur, who chugs his drink then inhales his cigarette.
Going back inside, Arthur soon finds himself in an interview with a Spanish man named Javier (Antonio Banderas). They talk about traveling, and the sexual tension begins to spark between them. Arthur and Javier talk about how strange it's to be almost 50 years old. Arthur recalls seeing Howard in New York City, not recognizing him because of how much he had aged. Arthur makes a move on Javier, who stops him, eventually admitting that he's married. Arthur, disgusted with himself, leaves the party. Around midnight, Arthur boards his flight to Morocco, worrying that if Javier had asked him to stay in Paris longer, he might've done so. Arthur also realizes that he's only one week away from his 50th birthday.
Arthur arrives in Marrakech, Morocco, and meets up with Lewis (Zachary Quinto), a friend of his, who's also vacationing in Morocco. Lewis introduces Arthur to Zohra (Tina Fey), a woman on the same tour group as Lewis and Arthur. Zohra's the same age as Arthur. After a night in a hotel, Arthur, Lewis, and Zohra join a tourist group on a camping trip in the Moroccan desert.
They travel on camels and camp in Bedouin-style tents at night. Arthur talks to Zohra about his newest novel, Swift, in which a gay man walks around his native San Francisco but then he tells her that his publisher decided not to publish it. She thinks that's for the best since the story doesn't really make sense to her. Zohra then reflects on aging, as they'll both turn 50 years old soon. Zohra decides that her philosophy going forward is that finding love will no longer be a priority and that she'll focus solely on her pleasure. Arthur's unsure what to make of this philosophy, but Lewis appears to be supportive of it. Arthur just goes to sleep, avoiding the conversation altogether.
During the first night of camping in the desert, Lewis says he and his husband Clark plan to divorce. Arthur’s astonished to hear this since they’ve always been a highly consistent couple. Lewis says that he and Clark agreed to assess their relationship every ten years when they got married. After 20 years, they decided that they’d divorce and explore other things. As Arthur’s baffled by this, Lewis continues that their marriage was consistently stable throughout those years and says that they'll remain friends. Lewis also mentions that “Freddy locked himself in the bathroom the night before the wedding.” Arthur tries to act uninterested about it. During the night, Arthur thinks about his latest novel and wonders how he'll salvage it.
The next day, the tourist group leader says that they'll have to go back to Marrakech due to sandstorms. At a resort, Zohra explains to Arthur that she's disillusioned with love ever since the love of her life broke up with her. She wonders if Arthur can relate. He does but doesn't know if he can admit it to himself. Arthur looks up online Freddy and Tom as they must be packing to leave for their honeymoon by now. Arthur thinks about packing suitcases with Freddy whenever they went on trips together.
It is Arthur’s 50th birthday, and he feels general despair about death, lost love, and the state of his newest novel. He then has an epiphany about rewriting Swift: he realizes that the protagonist isn't a hero to be admired, but a fool to satirize. After Morocco, Arthur goes to rural India. He arrives in a religious monastery, where he has reserved a room to rewrite his novel. Arthur isn't faithful, but he's somewhat shocked to learn that the monastery's a Christian institution.
Arthur attempts to settle down to write, but he's bothered by the other monastery inhabitants’ visitations. First, a pastor comes to lecture him, and then a boy arrives to say that he must replace the chair in Arthur’s room. Arthur's unable to sit and write until the boy brings a new chair hours later, and then Arthur must have dinner with the residents of the monastery. Arthur later slips, falls, and fractures his ankle. While he is recovered, he is surprised to have a visit from Carlos. Carlos asks if Arthur has saved his old letters from Robert. Carlos doesn't say why he's asking. While Arthur recovers from his injury, he begins revising his novel, turning all scenes of tragedy and despair in the book to scenes of farce and comic mishaps at the protagonist’s expense.
After Arthur’s release from the hospital, he goes to dinner with Carlos. Carlos says that he’s trying to put together an official collection of Robert Brownburn’s correspondence. He asks if Arthur would be willing to donate Robert’s letters to him. Arthur refuses. After finishing their dinner, Carlos says farewell, as he’ll be heading back to San Fran.
Moving forward to Arthur’s arrival in Japan, his plane lands, and he takes a bus to Kyoto. The next day, the front desk of his hotel has a message. Marian Brownburn had called to say that Robert had a stroke. Arthur calls Marian immediately. She says that Robert had a “minor stroke.” Arthur asks about her broken hip, and she says that it turns out that it wasn't broken, just bruised. They arrange a video chat between Arthur and Robert.’
The video chat starts. Arthur sees both Robert and Marian on the screen. Because of the stroke, Robert has lost function in a few of his facial muscles. He’s in his eighties. Robert asks about Arthur’s novel. Arthur says that he has one chapter left to rewrite but will be returning immediately to San Francisco to see Robert. Arthur mentally recalls when Robert first professed his love to him. On the video chat, Arthur wonders aloud if he is too old to find love, and Robert says that Arthur still has many good years ahead of him. They exchange professions of platonic love and say goodbye. Arthur then passes the day in Kyoto, attending meals at various restaurants that he had already pre-arranged. Arthur thinks about death, and particularly about his deceased mother. One restaurant has a miniature garden, and Arthur's shocked to see that it looks identical to the garden in his childhood home. He ponders his life and possible regrets. The garden is an enclosed space, and the door becomes jammed behind him. It takes much time for the staff to figure out a way to get him out.
Arthur Less returns home to San Francisco, and as he takes a taxi back to his home in San Francisco, he reflects upon his trip. He plans to have coffee with Lewis the next day and ask him if he and Clark are still divorcing and if this still feels like a good thing to Lewis. Arthur notices that his porch light is on and that someone's standing there. It's Freddy. He tells Arthur that his marriage to Tom lasted 24 hours before realizing that he truly loved Arthur.
Freddy closes the film by saying to Arthur that all he wants in life is “Less,” referring to Arthur Less, who's finally ready to let Freddy in.
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