The Independent – Sunday 17th November, 2002

By Peter York

I’ve always had a soft spot for Hugh Grant – I say this in a manly, hygienic way, but my one problem is the way he’s treated his brother, Richard E. He just won’t acknowledge him and yet it’s perfectly obvious they come from the same gene pool, the same class pool, even the same humour pool. What is it?

True, Richard spent some formative years in Swaziland, but things happen in middle-class families with a tradition of service. It’s nothing to be ashamed of; certainly not grounds for estrangement.

I don’t think they’re competing for the same roles either. Hugh plays lovable in various shades and haircuts, while Richard mainly plays mad or quite bad ones. Richard specialises in glinty-eyed expressions; Hugh is more … spaniel. Anyway, you get my drift, they’re complementary, but Hugh’s had the leading roles and the lion’s share of the coverage. But now Richard’s in Argos, and it’s one of his best.

I’ve been meaning to write about the new Argos Campaign for ages and, alas, now it’s Christmas and the seasonal commercial isn’t that great. But the series is good and the casting is wonderful. Richard is a self-involved, rich, long-haired Chelsea-Boy Seventies-style Something. I’m not sure what he’s meant to be – a rock-star, manager or over-wrought luvvie – but it’s heaven-sent for Richard; he’s better than his material.

He’s got up rather like Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen, long hair, big shirts, leather trousers, the Byron of Suburbia look, and he’s playing the ardent solipsist to the max. Just the sight of him is an establishing shot.

In an earlier commercial, his PA refurnishes his flat from Argos after some accident, and says it’s been done by a designer called Argoose – it’s broad, hammy old stuff but Richard saying, “Argoose, yes of course” is sheer delight. The new commercial is quicker stuff; he’s in a limo telling his smart PA to get a present for a journalist. The answer is a fancy silver Nokia telephone, with a digital camera thrown in – a price and an offer, with The Ronettes’ “Santa Claus is coming to Town” as a background. It’s cut-and-splice stuff, putting the celebrity with the Christmas hard sell, but it’s still a good campaign, giving Argos a bit of personality.

Perhaps Hugh, a known Argos fan, with that moving fish that sings “Don’t worry, be happy” on his South Ken drawing room wall, will bury the hatchet and give Richard the recognition he craves.