exceptional, extraordinary, amazing, astonishing, astounding, sensational, Phenomenal

Rating: 10/10 (24 January 2012)

The words in the title of this review are just some of the ones that you might find yourself using after watching this film.
I cannot even begin to describe how oddly simple and oddly amazing this film is. I was excited to go and see it 1. because it was nominated for so many Oscars and 2. that it was playing in 2 theaters in the City of Toronto right now. I can't believe how lucky I was to be able to see this at the Cineplex Varsity Cinema. I won't go into too much detail about the theatre but let's just say that the auditoriums themselves are very..intimate. There's maybe 100 seats in the theatre! Very tiny auditoriums. This is all relevant to the review though because, even though I was excited to go and see The Artist, walking into the auditorium was a bit of a let down.
This feeling was short lived though. As soon as the lights went down and the movie began I instantly realized that this type of auditorium was probably the best way to watch this film in. Just everything about it. The movie really gives off that old school silent film vibe (obviously) and being in a very intimate setting made me forget about 2012 and made me pretend to be in the early 1900's.
And that is another thing. This film forces you to insert-your-emotion-here many times. It knows exactly what it wants from the audience. This is obviously due to the fact that it is a silent film but the point I am trying to make is that it sucks you into it's story and everything with immense grace. I and many around me when I looked the odd time had a smile on our faces for nearly the entire film. You don't quite get this pleasure as much anymore in this modern day so I was pleasantly surprised and knew from the start that I would likely be smiling like a fool for the whole film!
I walked into the theatre with high hopes and expectations on this cold Tuesday in Toronto and I left delighted.
Simply blown-away by this masterpiece.
If you have a chance to go and see this film before the Oscars I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND DOING SO. But be warned: you are going to leave feeling invigorated with amazement!
10/10, 5/5, however you want to rate it: this film is near perfection.
Cheers!