Movie from the 2000s #3: THE ARTIST (2011) Just a beautiful and sweet little movie. I think anyone who loves a crowd-pleaser will love this film, but if you have any fondness for black-and-white and/or silent movies, its a must-see. The comic timing, the sweetness, the pathos, and simply the atmosphere of that era are beautifully paid tribute to. Conceptually, the movie *is* of that era. Its black-and-white. Its silent. And the premise, while slightly meta in treatment, is right out of the 20s and 30s. George Valentin is a charmingly egotistical silent film star dealing with the transition from silent films to the talkies. Hes roguishly likable, a bit like Tim Allens Shatner send-up in GALAXY QUEST, and actor Jean Dujardin does a pitch-perfect job of portraying that larger-than-life silent film acting style when we catch glimpses of Georges swashbuckler movies. Think Douglas Fairbanks. Always a twinkle in the eye and a laugh in the face of danger. Naturally, though, theres difficulty in transitioning to talking movies, and a further monkey wrench in his life when he finds himself crushing on Peppy Miller, a lovably daffy ingenue. Shes played by Bérénice Bejo, another French actor I dont know outside this flick (and, okay, A KNIGHTS TALE, where she played a small role), but I pretty much fell in love with her right from the get-go. The movie just has that kind of charm. I fell for Peppy. I wanted to *be* George Valentin. I wanted to travel back to that era. Its like a silent movie fairy tale, with the same winning charm and laughs youd find in its plot-similar sibling, SINGIN IN THE RAIN. There are also great supporting roles for John Goodman (as a cigar-chomping producer) and James Cromwell (as Georges butler). While the movie has a few art house touches, its mostly an approachable love letter to classic movie magic. The premise is a touch slight (and I suppose you might say derivative, if you wanted to be a mustache-twirling villain), but the execution is so good that, while I was gonna give it four stars, Im having so much fun just thinking about it that I gotta bump it up to... Five stars out of five
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 00:00:03 +0000
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